


Of Signboards and Love

by Silvershrike



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Gen, Homophobia, M/M, Outing, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-22 18:42:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 61,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvershrike/pseuds/Silvershrike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo makes a mistake but it might just be the greatest thing that has ever happened to Dean.  If he's willing to accept it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dean was having a really shitty,  _shitty_  start to his day.  It was supposed to be his day off.  His one day off in two goddamn weeks.  He had been planning to wake up around noon, justifying it by the fact that he hadn’t gotten off of work until after 2 that morning anyway, make some awesome pancakes with eggs and bacon, then sit around all day doing nothing but lounging.  Maybe he’d invite Sammy over later that night to cook up a decent meal, drink a few beers and catch up.  Instead he was woken, at 7 in the fucking morning, by his phone nearly rattling itself off his nightstand while “Bad Moon Rising”, his ringtone for The Roadhouse, blared.  He swore and slapped his hand down on the phone, making it whine a little.

“You had better be on fucking FIRE” he growled as an answer.

“Sorry Dean, sorry.  You know I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important” Jo said from the other end.

Dean sighed, “What is it Jo?” he asked, rubbing his forehead and already knowing what she was going to say.

“Could you come in today?” when Dean didn’t answer she continued in a rush, “Just for the brunch shift, I can have Meg come in for the lunch and dinner crowd.”

Dean scrubbed his hand over his face in exasperation and was about to ask why Jo needed him to come in when she said the one thing he didn’t want to hear, “Mom isn’t feeling that well, she caught the bug going around.  She told me she was fine and I was overreacting and to “quit babying her” but then she vomited up the water I made her drink.  Right now it’s just Benny and Carlos in the kitchen with a few of the line chefs, me at the bar and Ash bussing and I need someone I can trust to serve.  It’s Sunday so we shouldn’t get that big of a crowd.”

Dean sighed again, “Yeah Jo, okay.  You owe me for this” he hung up before she could say any more.  If Ellen was ill he would do anything to take some of the stress off her.  After all, Ellen had been there when Dean needed her.

He heaved his aching body out of bed, stuffed a bagel into the toaster then padded to the shower.  He still smelled of the bar from serving last night.  He hadn’t had the energy to shower before falling into bed the night before and he needed to get the sour alcohol smell, from a patron who had been gesturing a little too wildly and splattered his beer everywhere, and sweat off of him.  He was only in the shower for 5 fucking minutes, he was sure of it, but when he stepped out he could smell the acrid scent of burnt bagel.  He swore, wrapped a towel around his body and jogged to the kitchen.  Sure enough, the bagel had gotten stuck in the toaster.  He unplugged the damn thing and shook it upside down until the bagel fell out.  It looked like charcoal and didn’t smell much better.  He glanced at the clock, he didn’t have a ton of time if he wanted to get to the Roadhouse by the time they needed to start setting up the tables.  He shrugged, choked down half the burnt bagel, after slathering it in cream cheese of course, got dressed, brushed his teeth and headed out.

**\--**

 

He drove with the windows down, enjoying the crispness in the air, the classic rock station he was always tuned to and the purr of his Baby as he drove.  If his phone hadn’t been wedged against his leg he wouldn’t have realized it was ringing over the loud music.  The vibration finally caught his attention.  He leaned over and turned the music down.  “Bad Moon Rising” again, crap. 

“What Jo?” he sighed into the phone in greeting.

“Geeze, sorry grumpy-pants.  I just need to know what you wanted on the board” Jo was way too peppy for this early in the morning.

Dean looked at the phone incredulously for a moment, “I’m sorry, the board?  What the hell are you talking about Jo?”

“OH!” She said loudly, causing Dean to wince and pull the phone slightly away from his ear, “I forgot you haven’t worked a weekend morning in a while.  Mom thought it would be a good idea to put up one of those signboard things, you know, the ones that sit on the sidewalk outside?  To let people know that we’re open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  It started out as specials but someone came up with the idea to have the name of the waiter along with their food and drink suggestion.  It’s worked like a charm.  You’d be amazed at how our traffic rose after that.  I guess most people don’t associate an old bar with brunch.”

“Huh,” Dean answered, mind trailing away, “We still make those apple pancakes?”

“Duh, bestseller, especially during autumn and winter” Dean could almost hear Jo rolling her eyes.

“Okay, then apple pancakes for food, and a hot toddy for the drink” he may prefer apple pie but The Roadhouse’s apple pancakes were damn good.  The hot toddy would just round it out.

“Deaaaaaaaaan” Jo whined, “You know we’re a dry bar until 5”. 

“Jo, I don’t know, pick something that goes with the pancakes.  You make good hot chocolate, right?  Just do that.  I’ll be there soon so don’t call me again” and with that he snapped his phone shut, threw it on the passenger seat, cranked his music up and enjoyed the rest of his drive.  Hoping his day was going to get better.

 

**\--**

 

As he drove past The Roadhouse he waved at Jo, who was fiddling with something out front,  _must be that signboard thing she was talking about_  Dean thought as he drove around back.  He purposefully entered through the back entrance so he could have a few more moments of peace before Jo came back in and got frantic.  She always got frantic on the few days of the year that Ellen wasn’t down there.  Dean knew that it had something to do with wanting to prove to her mother that she could run the bar, but it made her difficult to be around at 7:45 in the morning on half a bagel.  She’d calm down an hour or two into being open.  

The Roadhouse was a bar downstairs with a two bedroom apartment upstairs.  Jo and Ellen shared the upstairs.  There was a small break room tucked under the stairs where a cot could be set up.  Ash often crashed on the cot.  He was a good friend of Ellen and Jo’s and was a computer genius, though he didn’t look it with his mullet and scraggly shirts.  He had designed The Roadhouse’s website and was often found putzing around The Roadhouse, even when he wasn’t working.  Dean was 99% sure that Ash didn’t get a paycheck and instead bussed for Ellen and Jo because he got bored and needed something to do and they, in turn, let him stay at The Roadhouse and fed him for free.  

Dean shrugged out of his coat and stashed it in the breakroom then started flipping chairs off of the various tables and the bar top, humming “Eye of the Tiger”.  Ash popped his head out of the kitchen area a few moments later.

“Heeeeey, Kemosabe!” Ash called, sauntering towards Dean.

“Heya, Ash, what’s up?” Dean stopped a moment to stretch, feeling some of his spine click into place and one of his shoulders pop.  He was too old for this shit.

“Nada, bro,” Ash gave him a weird look, “’Sup with you, dude?  Haven’t seen you work a Sunday morning in a while, thought today was your day off.” 

Dean hummed his agreement, “Was supposed to be, Jo called me in since Ellen isn’t feeling all that great.  Probably figured that since I wasn’t working at Bobby’s I wouldn’t mind spending my Sunday working the bar.”

“Ah, that explains it then” Ash said wisely.

“Explains what, Ash?” Dean asked, going back to dropping chairs off of the tables and trying to keep the sigh out of his voice.  Ash could come up with some pretty weird theories, even about the regular occurrences in his life.

Ash didn’t get a chance to explain as Jo pushed the front door open with an exclaimed “Dean!” she shut the door behind her, turned the lock to re-lock the door, and made her way to him, threading through tables and taking a chair or two down as she passed.

When she got to Dean she hugged him for a second, “Thanks for coming in, you really saved my butt.”

Dean exhaled, letting his anger go.  It wasn’t Jo’s fault that her mom was ill, “No problem, kiddo.”

She raised an eyebrow “Dean, I am, technically, your boss right now.”

He waved his hand vaguely, “Nah, I’ve seen you when you were growing into a training bra, you’re a kiddo.”

Jo flushed and Ash snorted with laughter and they all moved together to get The Roadhouse set up for morning brunch.

 

**\--**

 

The Roadhouse was an older bar, Ellen had converted it from just a bar to a bar with a very small sit down area shortly after her husband had passed away.  It had given her something to focus on and Dean knew that she had desperately needed that.  They had come in for the funeral, Dean and Sam and Dad.  Dean remembered it.  He remembered the late night call from Bobby.  His Dad’s face going blank, then angry.  His Dad yelling that he “wasn’t coming back to that town even to bury a friend!”.  A woman’s voice, probably Ellen’s, coming over the crackly motel line, sounding destroyed.  His Dad going white and shaking.  Dean had pretended to sleep.  His Dad sat there for an hour after hanging up, looking completely defeated.  Then he woke Dean and Sam up.  The sun had just come up.  They were in the car for 2 days straight.  Dean was only half awake when they got into town but he remembered how the age showed on Ellen’s face.  Jo, only 6, crying and holding her mom’s hand, not able to process what had happened.  Dean had only been 10 but he remembered it.  Ellen and Bobby and convinced their Dad to stay in town after the funeral.  Life had gotten better after that.  Dean was only sorry that Bill had had to die for it.  He still felt guilty for appreciating it. 

Despite the addition they still had their regulars that came in to sit at the bar and complain, and Dean knew that with the addition they had suddenly gotten a new crowd in.  Some of the college students had gotten over their fear of going to a “scary dive bar” and got roaring drunk on weekends and they had the random vacationers come in for lunch and early dinners.   Dean had seen the change in patrons as he had grown up, often spending nights on the pull-out couch with Sam while his Dad was either working a shift or passed out downstairs.  

Just a year ago Jo had talked her mom into opening for brunch time on weekends.  She had helped plan a bridal shower for a friend and had fallen in love with the idea of brunch.  Ellen agreed but told Jo that she would be responsible for getting The Roadhouse set for the morning crowd so Ellen could come down at the last minute.  Jo had agreed as long as she could have early Friday and Saturday nights.  They had compromised.  Jo stopped working at 10 on Friday and Saturday nights and Ellen didn’t start helping until 8:30 on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Ellen had also given the mandate that no alcohol was to be served until 5 because she “didn’t want to deal with damn drunk fools in the mornings too”.  Dean had scoffed at the idea of having something so girly at The Roadhouse but, secretly, those apple pancakes were damn good.  With the addition of a brunch time the younger crowd could come nurse the hangovers they had gotten the night before and the regulars could enjoy a slow breakfast and good coffee.  It somehow worked for everyone.  The college agers got to feel that tingle of fear while remaining safe and the regulars got something else to complain about.

The 8:30 opening time was only minutes away when Jo called a meeting, “Okay guys,” she started, her voice shaking a little, “Ellen’s not here but we can do this.  Dean’s picked the apple pancakes as his food suggestion so Benny and Carlos, be ready for that” Benny nodded, tying his apron on and winking jauntily at Dean, Carlos just looked stoic, his arms crossed. “Ash, I can take care of the bar top but if you see me slacking and want to bus up there too I wouldn’t mind.  Dean, you know what you’re doing, I know you haven’t worked a Sunday morning in a while but they’re usually pretty quiet.  Gabe will probably stop by, just FYI, he likes to drop in on Sundays and he mentioned it last night.”  Dean started, surprised.  He hadn’t even  _seen_  Gabriel at The Roadhouse last night.  Granted, it had been a busy night, but Gabe was normally right in the action.

Jo noticed Dean start, “Yeah, I dunno, he had a cousin or his brother or something with him.  They were throwing back shots like nothing else all night, at least I guessed they were from the number of glasses on the table, but Gabe was really quiet, sat in one of the back corners.  I would have missed him entirely but I saw him as I was headed upstairs for the night, the person he was with was in the bathroom but Gabe promised to bring him around to meet everyone this morning.”

“Sounds like this guy may be a good influence on the little asshead” Dean said.

Jo snorted, “Yeah, not so sure about that, I think it may be the other way around, anyone have any questions before we open up?  No?  Okay, then let’s get to it!” Jo clapped her hands once and everyone started moving.

Benny stopped a moment to clasp hands with Dean, “Hey, brother, haven’t seen you in ages.  Want to catch up this week?” Benny asked, stepping back. 

Dean grinned, “Yeah Benny, that would be awesome.  Thursday night?  I get off my shift at Bobby’s at 5.  If you bring the pecan pie, I’ll host, we can watch the game.”

Benny nodded, “Sounds good brother, we’ll work it out, yeah?” then he headed toward the kitchen with a little wave.

Dean whistled as he headed to the front door to unlock it and flip the sign.  The day was looking up.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, Outing in this chapter. Wanted to give a heads up.
> 
> I'm going to try to update this fic once a week, on Wednesdays most likely. I am going out of the country for a while and I won't have easy access to the internet but I'm putting a chapter up today and likely one on Wednesday to make up for it.
> 
> Just a quick aside. It is never okay to out anyone without their express consent and even then you should avoid it. I don't care if they are your family, best friend or lover. I don't care if you think they are 100% out to everyone in the world. You can never be sure what they are going through or dealing with and outing someone could endanger their life. 
> 
> Also, I'm bi, my brother is gay and the majority of my friends are not straight. I have heard enough slurs to last me a lifetime and I have seen the pain it causes. For that reason I've avoided any slur but "homo", though other words would probably have worked better. I just couldn't write it out.
> 
> Jo is a bit OOC. This is a really long note. Sorry.

Two women came in within minutes of The Roadhouse opening, obviously having enjoyed a very nice night.  They flirted shamelessly with each other while Dean took their orders.  The redhead was cute in a girl-next-door way, but the brunette was a true knock-out.  A few regulars wandered in and sat at the bar where Jo poured them coffee and got them their food.  Ash wandered around bobbing his head and rocking out to the music playing over the speakers.  Jo always picked the same classic rock station as Dean, so Dean often found himself singing or whistling along under his breath.  He noticed that he got some weird looks from some of the regulars and a few times he saw one or two motion to Jo then whisper in her ear.  He shrugged it off.  They probably forgot what he looked like while they were sober and were wondering who the new guy was.

 

Another couple came in, followed by some hung over college students.  Both groups ate quickly, the college students obviously nursing their heads, then walked back out, leaving Dean a decent tip.  Rufus strode in.  The old family friend nodded at Jo then stopped to exchange a few words with Dean.

 

“You okay, boy?” The old man asked.

 

“Yeah Rufus, what’s up?” Dean clapped him on the back.

 

“Nothing Dean, just haven’t seen you for a while and saw your board out there.  Probably going to try those apple pancakes, so I hope you haven’t steered me wrong.”

 

“Nah Rufus, Benny’s apple pancakes are the best” Dean grinned.

 

Rufus nodded then went to join Jo at the bar, greeting some of the other regulars as he went.  The two women continued to flirt and giggle after they finished eating and, since the table wasn’t needed, Dean didn’t try to get them out, just refilled their coffee and smiled when the redhead cracked a Star Wars joke.  It seemed like it was going to be a quiet day.

 

Dean had a few more groups come in and he started noticing that he was not only getting odd looks from the regulars at the bar but also from some of the random groups that he served.  Dean was used to getting looks.  He knew he was a good looking guy and he often got admiring looks from women and, sometimes, men.  This was on an unusual scale though.  Some of the people he was serving tried flirting, others blushed if he so much as _looked_ at them and some were so bold as to grab his ass.  He also found a phone number scribbled on more than one napkin while he was clearing tables.  

 

He mentioned this to Jo when he got a break and all his tables but the two women had cleared out.  She gave him her poker face, which Dean knew meant that she was up to something, “We just get a weird crowd in on Sundays.  You know, college students and whatnot.” she waved a hand in the air.

 

Dean was about to ask what she had done when Gabriel swaggered in, popping the door open so hard it swung fully open with a squeal of hinges before he caught it on the backswing, posing in the doorway and looking around like he owned the place.  He brightened when he saw Dean.  Gabriel was a short, stocky man with brown gold hair and bright brown eyes that almost shone golden in the light.  At the moment those eyes were lit with a mischievous glimmer.  Dean sighed, knowing his quiet day had just become anything but.

 

“Dean-o!  Haven’t seen you on a Sunday before.  How is that cute little brother of yours?” Gabe half yelled from across the bar.

 

“Hey Gabe, just filling in.  Sam is good, but still not interested in a shorty like you” Gabe frowned theatrically.

 

“Too bad, that hunk of burning love wouldn’t know what hit him.  Oh well," He shrugged then continued, "Dean, Jo, I’d like you to meet my brother, Cassie” with that Gabriel stepped aside to reveal a man a little taller than Gabriel.  Besides his height Dean could only see a battered trench coat hiding a wrinkled suit and a messy head of dark brown hair.  The man was looking straight down and had his hands shading his eyes.

 

“Erm,” Gabriel continued, “Well, Cassie is a _teensy_ bit hung over.  Perhaps introductions can wait until we get some food in him.  Maybe some _super_ greasy eggs and bacon?” The man named ‘Cassie’ groaned at that and Gabriel smirked, “Okay Dean-o, where should we sit?”

 

Dean gestured to an empty table in the back, as far away from the kitchen, bar top and the east facing windows as possible, _no reason to torture poor_ Cassie _with extra light and noise_ Dean thought.  Gabriel grabbed his brother’s elbow and tugged him towards the table.  The two women at their table nearby stopped staring at each other long enough to smile at Gabriel and his companion.  Gabriel smirked and winked at them.  They giggled then went back to staring at each other and flirting.   Dean grabbed a few menus and approached.

 

“So, ‘Cassie’?” Dean asked with an arched eyebrow, handing the menus to Gabriel and looking back and forth between Gabriel and his brother, who had not raised his head yet.

 

Gabriel waved a negligent hand, “Castiel, actually.  Dearest mom and dad named him after an angel, just like me.  Cassie hates his nickname though.”

 

“So, naturally, you call him that all the time, right?” Dean continued.

 

“Of course, of course.  However, my poor brother is in a considerable amount of pain, isn’t that right, Cassie?” Gabriel raised his voice on the last words, earning another groan from Castiel, “Is there anything you can get him to make it better?  Maybe some of the hair of the dog?”

 

Castiel did, indeed, look wretched.  As soon as he had gotten to a chair he had slumped down, placing his elbows on the table and moving his hands from his eyes to his temples and massaging.  Dean could now see the back of his head and his neck, but that was about it.  Who wore a suit at 10:30 on a Sunday anyway?

 

“Sorry Gabe, you know we’re a dry bar ‘till 5 on weekends” Dean said, turning back to look at Gabriel, who was grinning and looking between Castiel and Dean.

 

Gabriel’s face fell comically, “Ahhh, crap, I forgot.  Ellen’s got that weird rule.  Could you recommend anything else oh fair and wise bartender?” Gabriel asked.

 

Dean frowned.  He did know a recipe for a smoothie that did wonders for clearing up hangovers.  He had made it often enough both for his dad and, later, for himself that he knew the recipe by heart.  It wasn’t _technically_ on the menu but he was pretty sure that he could find all the ingredients in back.  He looked back at Castiel.  The poor man looked even worse than he had when they had come in.  His fingers were practically digging into the skin of his temples and what skin Dean could see was sallow.  Dean remembered all those times that he had been hung over then he thought about what it would be like to have had Gabriel around during those times.  That’s what decided him.

 

He turned back to Gabriel, “Any allergies or dietary restrictions I should know about?” Dean asked.

 

Gabriel raised his eyebrow, “No... but this sounds kind of kinky, go on.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “It’s not kinky you perv.  I know a smoothie recipe but it’s mostly nuts, eggs and fruit and I don’t want to kill the guy if he’s allergic.”

 

Gabriel shook his head, “Nope, no allergies that I know of.”

 

Dean nodded, “Okay doke.  You,” he pointed at Gabriel, “figure out what you want to order.  Castiel is getting the smoothie, lots of water and some toast if he thinks he can handle it.  Smoothie is technically off menu so I’m charging you 5 bucks, sound fair?”  Gabriel nodded then started perusing the menu, a small smile on his face.  Castiel just groaned, crossed his arms on the table and buried his head into them.

 

**\--**

 

Dean walked over to Jo at the bar, shaking his head and yawning.  His exhaustion was starting to catch up to him.  

 

Jo raised her eyebrows, “So that’s the brother, huh?  Doesn’t look so great.”

 

“Yeah, I think you were right about them doing all those shots last night.  Guy is in hangover _hell_.  I’m going to make him one of my hangover smoothies.”

 

Jo paused a moment then her face went slack, “Let me get this straight, guy-you-don’t-even-know walks in and you’re making him your hangover smoothie after 5 minutes.  Dean, you wouldn’t even make me that smoothie the morning after my 21st.  My head felt like it was going to explode!”

 

Dean barked a laugh, “Yeah, but then how else would you learn, kiddo?” he asked, pinching one of her cheeks and earning a snort from Rufus, who was watching the conversation with interest from his perch at the bar.

 

Her face got dark, “Dean, dude, not fair.”

 

Dean grinned at her, “If it makes you feel any better I’m only doing it ‘cause I imagined what it would feel like if _I_ was hung over and had to deal with Gabriel.”

 

Jo winced at that, “Yeah, I guess you gotta point there.  Poor guy.”  Dean winked then headed to the back to gather the ingredients for the smoothie.

 

**\--**

 

A few minutes later a nasty-colored smoothie was plopped down in front of Castiel, along with a tall glass of water, two tablets and two pills.  Dean looked at Castiel but the man still had his head buried in his arms, so he talked to the top of his head instead, “Looks like shit, smells like shit, doesn’t taste that great, but it should help your head and settle your stomach some.  Alka seltzer tablets are next to your water, some pain killers are next to them.  Drink it all _slowly_ , I don’t feel like cleaning up anything gross this morning, yeah?” A grunt came from the man, which Dean took to be an affirmative.  “Gabe, you know what you want?” Dean turned to Gabriel who was looking at him with awe.  After a second Dean repeated himself, snapping his fingers in front of Gabriel’s eyes and speaking slowly, “Gabriel, earth to Gabriel.  What. Do you want. To eat?”

 

Gabriel blinked slowly, “Sorry Dean-o, just never knew you could be that nice, I think it fizzled my brain a little.”  Dean rolled his eyes as Gabriel continued, “I want the cinnamon roll pancakes with a peppermint hot chocolate, that sounds good, yeah?”

 

“With your sweet tooth?  I’m sure you’ll love it” Dean said.  He grabbed the menus then went back to drop them off, picking up the coffee pot to refill the coffee for the two women who were _still_ sitting at their table and eye-fucking.

 

**\--**

 

He mostly left Castiel and Gabriel alone but he did notice that Castiel had sniffed at the smoothie, made a face and drowned it in one long pull, then he quickly folded his arms on the table and buried his head again.  Dean winced.  If Castiel threw that smoothie up because he had downed it too fast Dean was not going to be happy.  He dropped the peppermint hot chocolate off with Gabriel, who was ignoring his brother and messing around on his phone.  Dean raised his eyebrows, motioning his head towards Castiel.  Gabriel shrugged.  Dean nodded and left them again.  

 

A group of older women came in, looking at Dean then giggling and covering their mouths.  Dean wasn’t annoyed, this entire morning had been people giggling and giving him googly eyes and he was immune to it by this point.  He led them to a table, gave them menus, welcomed them to The Roadhouse and took their drink orders.  They went into a giggle fit again and he figured he should leave them alone before one of them got bold and grabbed his ass.

 

“Man, we have had one weird-ass morning so far” he said to Jo with a yawn as he slipped behind the counter to drink his hot, tepid now, cider.

 

“It has been odd, nothing too crazy at least” Jo answered, handing some change back to Jerry, a regular.  Jerry dropped some bills on the table, tipped his hat at Jo, glanced at Dean then got up and left.

 

“Yeah, nothing too crazy.” Dean answered absent-mindedly, finding his eyes drifting to Castiel, who had finally picked his head up from his arms.  From this angle and distance Dean couldn’t really see what he looked like but he did look a little better.  The skin Dean could see was less green and he seemed to be a little more with it.  Castiel reached for the water, dropping the alka seltzer tablets into it and saying something to Gabriel who nodded without looking up.  After a moment Gabriel glanced quickly at Castiel, then looked at Dean and flashed him a thumbs up.

 

All seemed right in the world and Dean had about 10 more minutes of peace.  He had taken the older ladies’ orders through the giggles and put them in with Benny.  Ash waved at both he and Jo to let them know he was going on his break.  Knowing Ash, he’d be fiddling with his computer and blaring music into his ears.  Dean was headed back with the coffee pot to check on the two women again when Gordon Walker came in.  He was obviously still drunk and he staggered a little as he got close to Dean.  Dean carefully put the hot coffee pot down, folding a towel underneath it, then headed towards Gordon.

 

Gordon stopped suddenly as Dean approached him, drawing himself up as best he could.  He overbalanced, however, and started to tip.  Dean grabbed his arm, helping to hold him up, “You alright there, Gordon?” He asked.

 

Gordon shoved Dean.  It wasn’t a hard shove, Gordon was too unsteady and Dean was strong, “Get away from me.  You’re sick!” Gordon spat.

 

“Ooooookay, I think you need to sit down Gordon” Dean reached for his arm again, ready to lead him to a chair.  Gordon pulled his arm away from Dean before Dean could touch him, almost falling over again.

 

“Don’t you lay your dirty hands on me, I don’t want to catch any of those homo diseases!” Gordon hissed.  Dean went still, his mind suddenly blank.  It wasn’t necessarily a secret that he played for both teams but it wasn’t something he advertised.  Suddenly both Rufus and Jo were standing next to Dean.  Jo put her hand on Dean’s arm and he realized he was shaking slightly.  His mind kicked into high gear the instant Jo touched him.  He couldn’t figure out if his first instinct was to punch Gordon or go hide in a dark room somewhere.

 

Rufus gave Gordon a hard look and grabbed Gordon’s arm, hard enough so the man flinched and mumbled, “Lemme go Rufus”.

 

“Gordon, that was incredibly rude and completely uncalled for.  You **will** leave now and, I believe, you will not be welcome back at The Roadhouse” Rufus darted a quick look at Jo, who nodded, her hand tightening slightly on Dean’s arm.

 

“We don’t allow bigots in our establishment, Gordon.  You come back and I’ll call the police” Jo said, her voice tight.

 

“Oh, you won’t allow me in your ‘establishment’ but you’ll allow _him_ to serve good, paying, customers” Gordon roughly pulled out of Rufus’s grip, “I wouldn’t wanna eat here again anyway.  Don’t want to catch anything” he spat out, glaring at Dean again.

 

Jo stepped in front of Dean, releasing his arm, and slapped Gordon, hard.  Dean would have winced if it was anyone else getting slapped, “Get the _fuck_ out of here Gordon, you disgust me” Jo hissed.  Rufus roughly pulled Gordon back and marched him towards the front door, Gordon yelling curses and slurs the entire way.

 

Jo turned back towards Dean immediately, her face stark white, “God, Dean, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.  Please don’t be angry with me, I don’t know what I was thinking” she said it all in a rush, breathless.  Her face was crumpling.

 

Dean gave her a confused look, his mind churning and trying to catch up to everything that had happened, “Jo, what?  What are you talking about?  Gordon’s a fucking bigot, how is that your fault?”

 

“Oh Dean,” she flung herself forward to hug him and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

 

“Jo, kiddo.  What... it’s okay.  Shhhhh” he stroked her hair, like he did when they were kids and she had broken her arm falling out of a tree and Sammy had run back for help.  Like he did when she had gotten her heart broken for the first time by some dick in high school and he had come home from work to find her crying on the couch.

 

“Okay Jo, easy, just tell me what’s wrong.” Dean continued stroking her hair and trying to remain calm.  He wasn’t great with crying people and his mind was still whirling, putting him off balance and unable to process everything that had just happened.  He decided that if he kept his calm _now_ he could lose it at a later point, when he wasn’t in public.  With that in mind he shoved his hurt, confusion and anger into a box and tramped down on it, trying to mute the howls telling him to rip something apart.  Rufus returned from kicking Gordon to the curb and raised his eyebrows at the scene.

 

“Dean, I think I have an idea of why she’s so upset.  Let me take a wild guess and say that you didn’t write what’s on the signboard out there?” Rufus had a pained look on his face.

 

Dean gave Rufus a confused look, “Um, no, I told Jo what I wanted and she wrote it, why?”

 

Rufus motioned towards the front of the store, Jo was still clinging to Dean like he was going to disappear so Dean put his arm around her shoulders and tugged her along with him to see what Rufus was talking about.

 

The day had lost none of its chill since the morning and goosebumps instantly appeared on Dean’s arm as they exited The Roadhouse.  Dean looked around but he didn’t see Gordon anywhere.  He then looked down at the signboard and his heart and stomach leapt into his throat when he read what Jo had put there.

 

**Your Server Today Is: Hella lonely (Dean)**

**He Recommends You Try: To give him your number (Apple Pancakes)**

**And: He’s totally Bisexual and Really Hot ; ) (Peppermint Hot Chocolate)**

 

The only thing that went through Dean’s mind was _well, now I know why our customers have been acting so odd today_.  He knew he should have found that weird but at the moment he just couldn't find it in him to care.  Then he realized that Jo had buried her face into his chest and he sighed.  “Jo, kiddo, why did you write this?” he asked.

 

She sniffled a little, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.  I basically outed you against your will.  Holy shit, I suck.  God, what was I thinking.  I’m a terrible friend.  You should sue me.  Or hit me.  Seriously, I won’t fight back.”

 

He cut off her rant, “Jo, no, no, come on, why did you write this?”

 

She looked up at him, “You’ve just seemed so lonely recently Dean.  Sam’s moved out and he’s been working non-stop, you work all the time and I’m pretty sure the last time you went on a date was with that Lisa chick like a year and a half ago.  I figured if people knew you played for both sides you could double your chances.  Plus, Gabe said that he was bringing his brother to meet everyone today and I thought it would be good.  It wasn’t okay though, I’m so sorry.”

 

Dean sighed.  Sometimes he forgot how young Jo was and how impulsive she could be when she got an idea in her head.  “Okay Jo.  Just erase it and put the regular information up, yeah?  We’ll talk about this later, once we’ve all calmed down.” she nodded miserably, hugged him tight for a half second longer then went inside.  Dean guessed she had to grab whatever materials she needed to make changes to the board.  He really didn’t want to talk it out.  He wanted to go punch something until it was nothing but pulp then sleep for a day and forget everything that had just happened.

 

Rufus squeezed Dean’s shoulder, “You okay kid?” he asked gently.

 

“Yeah, Rufus, I’m fine.  I don’t really care what Gordon thinks of me and if he has a problem I’m sure that he and I can ‘work it out’” Dean tried to make his voice sound hard but he couldn’t help the small shake in it.  He only hoped that Rufus wouldn’t notice.

 

Rufus gave him an odd look but thankfully didn’t say anything besides, “Alright then, you let me know if you need help with him, we’ve never really gotten along so I know how to handle him.”

 

“Ha, Rufus, you don’t get along with anyone.  I think you just tolerate them.  Come on, let’s head inside, I’m fucking freezing” Dean shivered a little at the thought of going back in, glad the cold gave him an excuse.  Gordon had not been quiet and he didn’t want to think about what he was facing from the people in The Roadhouse.  Especially the regulars.  He had been bartending for years at The Roadhouse and many of the men were acquaintances who shot the shit about sports or hunting or women when Dean was working.  It was nice and he worried that he would lose the easy camaraderie.   _I just have to get through the rest of this shift.  Just the rest of this shift then I can go pass out at home and forget all of this._ Dean thought.

  
Rufus, thankfully, went back in first, leading the way.  Dean took a deep breath, rubbed a hand along his jaw, listening to the scratch of his stubble, squared his shoulders and followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone wonders
> 
> This is where I got the idea for the sign: http://silvershrike.tumblr.com/post/51878659013/brolininthetardis-this-is-a-coffeeshop-au
> 
> Here are directions for cinnamon roll pancakes. They are fucking fantastic:  
> http://silvershrike.tumblr.com/post/55895617480/ingredients-cinnamon-filling-4-tablespoons-1-2
> 
> There are tons of hangover smoothies out there. I'm not a big drinker, so I haven't tried many of them but I have friends who swear by them. The apple pancakes are baked apple pancakes. They are also fantastic but I don't have a particular recipe I follow. I like the ones that taste like apple pie =D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hokay, so.
> 
> I meant to get another chapter up before leaving for vacation but on Wednesday morning I got a call telling me that I may be a match for someone who needs a bone marrow donation. I had to fill out a ton of paperwork and get a blood draw for them to test further. Then I had to finish packing and cleaning and with all of that I just wasn't able to finish the chapter and now I've finally had a chance to get back to it. I may make Sundays the updating day.
> 
> Also, I'm hopped up on Dayquil, so I apologize if anything is funky about this chapter. Time for some tea!

He went to the bar first, avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes.  He was pretty sure Gabriel was trying to get his attention but he decided he would handle each table one at a time and just pretend the other tables didn’t exist for the moment. Jo was there and she glanced quickly at him, then away, taking a spray bottle with a towel and some chalk outside to redo the board.  Rufus followed her, glancing back once at Dean and nodding.  Dean was grateful, though he felt a little childish, that Rufus had basically walked him in.  All the regulars at the bar avoided looking directly at him as well until Aaron, a man around Dean’s age, managed to catch his eyes and said, “Gordon’s an ass and a bigot, Dean.”

 

There were murmurs of agreement from everyone at the bar and a few of them met his eyes and gave him words of encouragement.  Dean realized that most, if not all, of these men had likely read the board and had come in anyway.  He felt his eyes prickle and the box where he had shoved everything rattled and howled a little, demanding attention.  He didn’t trust his voice so he just nodded and headed to the kitchen, needing an escape.  As soon as the swinging door closed behind him, he leaned against the wall and rubbed a hand over his eyes.  He was exhausted and he was sure this day wasn’t going to get much better.  As soon as he lowered his hand from his eyes Benny dropped what he was doing and walked over to Dean.

 

“You okay, brother?” he asked.

 

Dean groaned, rubbing the back of his neck “Damn, you heard it all the way back here?  Yeah Benny, no worries.  Just coming to check on those cinnamon roll pancakes for Gabe” he would have to stop by that table eventually and he wanted something to do while he was there.

 

“Should be ready in just a few.  You let me know if you need anything, yeah?  Gordon’s a dick and could use a good talking to, in my opinion at least.  We still on for Thursday?  I was thinking I could come over ‘round 6, as long as that’s enough time for you to relax after Bobby’s” Benny’s face was almost completely blank of anything besides a slight questioning look.  Dean had only known Benny for a year, ever since the man had been hired as one of the breakfast chefs.  They had started off slightly wary of each other but a few harrowing, understaffed breakfast shifts, where Jo was still trying to figure everything out, had brought them together.  While Dean wasn’t a huge fan of football he enjoyed the company and the pie.

 

Dean nodded, knowing that the man was letting Dean know, not so subtly, that he didn’t care about Dean’s sexuality, “Yeah, that should be fine Benny, thanks.  I’ll be back for those pancakes.”

 

Benny nodded and wandered back to the sink to wash his hands.  Carlos caught Dean’s eye and nodded in acknowledgement, turning back to what he was cooking.  Dean took a deep breath, turned on his heel and pushed the swinging door to the sitting area back open.  He winced when he realized the coffee pot was cooling on the table where he had left it.  It was cool enough that he replaced it on the burner and grabbed the fresh pot.  He walked to the older ladies’ table first, they would be the easiest to deal with.

 

“Sorry for the delay, ladies, your food should be here shortly.  Can I refill your drinks?”  He held up the coffee pot and wiggled it slightly, shooting the table his unbeatable grin.  They all smiled back at him tentatively.

 

One woman held her cup up, “Everything okay, honey?” she asked in one of those grandma voices.  Or at least what Dean thought of as a grandma voice, having only heard one on TV.

 

“Yes, sorry about that, just a rowdy customer.  Nothing to worry about.”  Dean carefully avoided looking at her, instead concentrating on the brown liquid pouring into her cup.

 

Another woman at the table leaned over and literally patted Dean’s other hand, “Don’t listen to people like that man.  My grandson is gay and some people can just be so cruel.  You seem like a dear boy.”  She patted his hand again then continued, “If Matt wasn’t head over heels in love with Adam I would try to set you two up.  You’d make such a cute couple”  Dean wasn’t really sure what to say to that so he just stammered something about checking on their food before hightailing it to the couple’s table.

 

He had hoped that the two women would have been too wrapped up in each other to have paid attention to what was going on.  When he got there, though, the redhead grabbed his wrist, eyes concerned and kind.  “Are you okay?  Your co-worker really shouldn’t have done that.  I have a friend that can help you bring a lawsuit if you want.  My name’s Charlie, by the way, this is my girlfriend, Gilda.”

 

Dean looked at her, startled, “No, no.  Seriously.  Jo’s an old family friend and she screwed up.  She shouldn’t have done that and we’ll be talking about it later, but I’m not looking to sue.”

 

Charlie relaxed slightly, dropping his wrist, “If you’re sure.  Let me know if you change your mind.  We came in here specifically because of what it said on the board, thinking it would be gay friendly.  We wouldn’t have done it if we’d known you had been outed.”

 

Dean shrugged, “I wasn’t exactly outed.  It wasn’t a secret, not many people knew about it is all.  Gordon’s just kind of a dick.  Let me know if you need anything, yeah?” he rapped lightly on their table and walked back to the bar area, setting the coffee pot down.  Jo walked back in, giving him a mournful look.  He nodded at her as he heard the bell ding, letting him know that Gabriel’s pancakes were done.  While he was thankful the bell saved him from having to talk to Jo he was dreading talking with Gabriel.  He wasn’t easy to deal with even when Dean wasn’t running on a few hours of sleep and had just been outed to a drunk bigot.  He took a deep breath and braced himself as he grabbed the pancakes.

 

He walked towards the table, staring just over Gabriel’s head.  Darting his eyes down to Gabriel’s face Dean realized that Gabriel didn’t look angry or even annoyed.  Dean considered Gabriel a friend but had never told him about his sexuality.  The issue had just never come up.  In the two and a half years that he had been friends with Gabriel he had gone on a few dates with Lisa, but no one else had really caught his eye.  He wouldn’t have _lied_ if Gabriel had asked, he just had never found a good time to say, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, I like dudes’.  But now he felt like a bad friend for not being completely upfront with the man.  He didn’t even dare look at Castiel, though the man had finally picked his head up from his arms, _Christ, the guy’s first impression of me will always be Gordon yelling homophobic slurs_ , Dean thought, dismayed.  

 

Gabriel smiled as Dean walked up to the table and raised his hand to cut off the huge speech Dean had rolling around in his tired brain, “Don’t apologize Dean-o.  Guy’s an ass.  Had an inkling all along anyway.  I know I got one tight butt but did you _have_ to stare all those times?  If you had told me I totally could have hooked you up,”  Gabriel winked then he caught sight of the pancakes, “Ooh, are those my pancakes?  Gimme” Gabriel wiggled his fingers in a “give it here” motion while bouncing in his seat and grabbed at the plate before Dean had a chance to set it down, immediately taking a big bite of the pancakes and groaning obscenely.

 

“By the way Dean,” Gabriel continued around his mouthful, “this is my brother, Castiel.  Thanks to your tender ministrations I think he’s feeling more in the mood to have introductions.  Cassie, this is Dean” Gabriel pointed with his fork in turn then went back to shoveling his pancakes into his mouth.

 

Dean turned towards Castiel, bracing himself for a look of disgust or pity, and felt the air being punched out of him.  Castiel was _gorgeous_.  His jaw had a bit of dark stubble, emphasising his strong jaw line.  His lips were incredibly soft looking, even if they were slightly chapped.  Images flashed through Dean’s head of him catching that bottom lip between his teeth and _nibbling_.  Dean brought his eyes up Castiel’s face and found startlingly blue eyes which were, at the moment, glaring at Gabriel.  He would have looked very feminine except for the strong lines of his face.  The dark, mussed sex-hair only served to put filthy images into Dean’s mind.  Dean running his fingers through that hair, grabbing it, tugging it.   _Fuck._

 

“Gabriel, please, I have asked you not to call me that multiple times.  I would appreciate it if you followed my wishes” Dean sucked in a breath.  Castiel’s voice was deep and gravelly and the dirty images in Dean’s mind now had a soundtrack of deep moans and gasps and _pleading_.  Castiel turned his eyes on Dean, and Dean suddenly felt as though Castiel could see into his soul.  He quickly tried to smooth his face into something not resembling an ‘I-was-totally-imagining-us-having-dirty-sex’ face and rubbed the back of his neck, willing his blush to go away.  Dean was far too tired to keep the dirty images out of his head for long.  He only hoped that his face didn’t show it, or that Castiel was still too out of it to notice.

 

“It is very nice to meet you, Dean.  I apologize that you had to deal with a homophobe this morning.  I hope that you manage to work everything out and that he doesn’t give you any more trouble” he paused then continued, “I also truly appreciate you making that ‘hangover smoothie’ for me.  It went a long way towards helping my head and my stomach” he winced and rubbed his head, “though I am not at 100% yet, it seems.”

 

“Um,” Dean cleared his throat, “No problem.  Can I get you something else?”

 

Castiel tilted his head in thought, “Perhaps some toast?  Just plain.  While my stomach is considerably better I fear anything too adventurous may upset it again.”

 

Dean made a gun with his fingers and pointed towards Castiel, “You got it.” He turned towards Gabriel, dragging his eyes away from Castiel, “Gabe, you good?  Want another hot cocoa?” Gabriel had a bite stuffed in his mouth, eyes closed in rapture, but he nodded his assent. “Okay doke, I’ll be back with toast and another hot cocoa, just give me a few, shouldn’t take too long, Peppermint hot cocoa still okay, Gabe?  Of course it’s okay.  I’ll be right back” Dean shut his mouth with a click when he realized he was babbling and slid his eyes back toward Castiel, only to see the man staring at Dean with that odd, soul gazing, stare.  Dean started backing up, needing to get away from Castiel and his blue, blue eyes.  He semi-tripped against a chair, swore under his breath and turned, feeling a prickle at the back of his neck.  He was sure Castiel was watching him, Gabriel too, probably.

 

He had just made it to the bar area when Ash came barging in from the kitchen area, yelling, “Dudes!  What did I miss?!”

  


**\--**

  


Apparently Benny had told Ash only part of the story before Ash had pushed into the sitting area in a fury.  After explaining everything that had happened to Ash and listening to him mutter darkly about digging up dirt on Gordon, Dean handed out the food to the table of ladies then told Jo he needed 5 minutes and asked if she would be willing to drop the toast and peppermint hot chocolate off with Castiel and Gabriel.  Jo told him to take his time, obviously still feeling bad and not able to look him fully in the face.  Dean nodded at Ash and hurried to the back.  He knew he was being a coward but he didn’t care at the moment.  He swore he could feel his neck prickling the entire time he had been in the dining room but every time he looked over to the table Gabriel and Castiel were sharing they were talking quietly with each other.  Dean just needed a break to get his head together.

 

He checked his phone, 11:30, he only had 30 minutes until Meg was supposed to arrive.  He decided to call Sam to see if he wanted to come over and grab some lunch with him.  He was sure he could talk Jo into giving him a free lunch.  He scrubbed a hand over his face as his cell rang out, yawning widely.

 

“Dean?” Sammy answered the phone, “What’s up?”

 

Dean sighed, feeling better already, “Hey Sammy, I’m at the Roadhouse, want to meet me for lunch in a bit?  I got something I need to talk to you about.”

 

Dean could hear Sammy perk up, “That would be awesome but could you give me like, an hour?  I’m working on some syllabi and I would love to get them finished.”

 

“Sure Sammy, I’ll meet you here around 12:30, yeah?  Also, just to give you a heads up, Gabe is here with his brother.”

 

“Sorry, Dean, did you say Gabe’s _brother_?” Sammy sounded incredulous.

 

“Yeah Sam, I dunno, I guess the guy got into town yesterday.  Gabe got him roaring drunk last night if his hangover is anything to go by.”

 

“Huh,” Sam said, obviously trying to process the information, “Okay, well, I’ll see you in an hour.”

  
“Yup, bye Sam.” Dean snapped his phone shut and stuck it back in his pocket.  He took a moment to just breathe.  Today had not been an easy day, but it was almost over.  His shift was almost over.  He’d _have_ to talk to Jo, even if he was dreading it.  Then he would have lunch with Sam, go home and crash.  Maybe he could convince Sam to come over later tonight for a beer and to watch Star Wars or Indiana Jones or something.  Maybe he could even get him to _finally_ watch Star Trek IV.  Those were comfort movies for him and he knew it, but he didn’t care at the moment.  With a plan in his mind and knowing that he would get a chance to see Sammy soon he felt a little better.  He took a deep breath, steadied himself and walked back out to finish up his shift and wait for his freakishly tall brother to show up.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of Dean's shift was easy enough.  The table of ladies paid with Jo and left, leaving Dean with a hefty tip and more pats on the hand when he had dropped off their bill.  After the awkwardness of the hand-patting he stopped by Charlie and Gilda’s table and told them that they were welcome to stay for the lunch shift but that they would have to pay for breakfast now.

 

Charlie smiled at him, “We’ll be leaving now, I think.  You’re sure you’re okay?” at Dean’s nod, she continued, “Well, it was nice to meet you, Dean.  We’ll probably be stopping by here on a fairly regular basis now that we’ve discovered it.” She winked at Dean as he fished their bill out of his apron and placed it on the table.

 

Dean smiled at her and Gilda, “I look forward to it.”  Oddly, he did.  Charlie had seemed genuinely worried about Dean after the trouble with Gordon and, though they hadn’t spoken, Gilda had smiled kindly from the start.  Plus, Charlie _had_ cracked a Star Wars joke.  Dean wouldn’t mind if they became regulars.  He left them to figure out the bill and headed over to see Gabriel and Castiel.  He was feeling more himself, knowing that he would be seeing Sammy soon, and he felt better equipped to handle talking to Castiel, with his beautiful face and blue eyes.

 

Gabriel was practically licking his plate clean of the leftover frosting and Dean couldn’t help but grin at the look of horror on Castiel’s face.  As he approached the table Dean caught Castiel admonishing his brother, “Gabriel, _please_.  We’re in public.” At that Dean started laughing.  He pulled a chair over to their table and sat in it with a plop, propping his elbows on the table.

 

“Yeah, Gabriel, you’re in _public_ , can’t you try to control your sweet tooth?” Dean kept chuckling under his breath.  Castiel glanced at him and Dean was sure that there was a pretty blush creeping up Castiel’s cheeks.  But Dean totally wasn’t looking at Castiel, nope, not at all.

 

Gabriel groaned, “I can’t help it, the frosting Benny makes for these pancakes is simply _divine_.  And the man won’t share his recipe, so I’m stuck eating them only once a week, if I’m lucky.”

 

Dean grinned, “I’m not sure how you haven’t gotten diabetes yet, Gabriel.”

 

Castiel snorted, “We have been telling him that since I was a child.  You should have seen some of the things he ate for breakfast back then, I believe it was something he liked to call ‘Smarties Cereal’, which, if I remember correctly, amounted to Smarties candies in a bowl with milk.  Turned the milk a disgusting shade.”

 

Dean grinned at Castiel, who smiled tentatively back.  Dean couldn’t help but notice just how god damned _attractive_ Castiel was.  It almost wasn’t fair.  Gabriel cleared his throat and Dean realized that he’d been staring at Castiel a little longer than was polite and that Castiel was staring right back.

 

“Smarties cereal is fantastic and I don’t know why all of you refused to try it,” Gabriel sniffed in disdain, "I still have some every now and then, if you're interested, Dean".  Dean rolled his eyes at that, using it as an excuse to drag his eyes away from Castiel.  He focused his gaze on the left over plates sitting on the table and when he noticed the empty smoothie glass he cleared his throat.

 

“So, Cas, I take it you’re feeling better?”   _fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck I just called him ‘Cas’ fuck_ Dean thought, feeling a blush rise up his cheeks.  He rubbed the back of his neck then realized how obvious that was and dropped his hand quickly, hoping that no one noticed.  Dean decided that it was his exhaustion causing him to be so awkward.

 

Cas nodded then raised an eyebrow, “Cas?”

 

Dean chuckled uncomfortably, “Is that okay?”

 

Cas shrugged, playing with the crust of his toast “It’s not like I haven’t heard that nickname before.  Castiel is a bit of a mouthful.  It’s just that most people don’t start calling me ‘Cas’ until a few weeks of regular acquaintance.  According to some,” he glanced at Gabriel then back to Dean, “I come off as ‘too proper’ for a nickname.  But I certainly don’t mind them.” He tilted his head, “Well, I do mind ‘Cassie’.  Please don’t call me that.”

 

Dean chuckled, genuinely this time, “No worries there, I’ll stick to Cas.  So, what are you in town for?”

 

It was Cas’s turn to drop his eyes, “I actually just received a tenure track position in the religion department at the university in town.  I’m living with Gabriel at the moment, until I can find a place to live.”

 

“No shit” Dean said.  He caught Gabriel grinning out of the corner of his eye and he realized he was staring at Castiel again.

 

“Cassie here is a regular genius,” Gabriel said, “he’s got two masters _and_ a Ph.D., all from a fucking ivy league college.  He puts all of us to shame.” Dean could hear the pride in Gabriel’s voice.

 

“Gabriel,” Cas’s tone sounded as though he had had this conversation with Gabriel before.

 

Dean waved, “Nah, he’s right to be proud.  My little brother, Sammy, he just graduated from Stanford.  He’ll be teaching at the university this year as well.  He’s teaching logic and law though, so I don’t think your paths will cross too often.  I couldn’t be prouder” then he realized something, “wait, Gabe, didn’t you go to Harvard or something?”

 

Gabriel shrugged and smiled slightly, “Brown, never graduated though, bored me.”

 

“Okay then” Dean said under his breath, trying not to think about the fact that all he had was his GED and two jobs.

 

Cas looked at him oddly, “Sorry, Dean, what?”

 

Dean shook his head, “Nothing, nothing.  Breakfast time is almost up.  You gotta pay now, but if you want to hang around until 12:30 you can meet Sam, he’ll be popping by for lunch.”

 

Gabe brightened, “Ohh!  Sam will be by?  Cassie, you’re going to love Sam, you two will be able to be all nerdy together what with your... nerdiness” Gabriel waved a vague hand in the air.

 

Dean nodded, “It’s true, Sam loves to be a nerdy little ass but I tend to blank out when he does go into nerd mode,” Dean also knew that Gabriel would be happy to see Sam.  Sam had still been living with Dean when he had first become friends with Gabriel.  While Dean and Gabe had been fast friends, Sam and Gabe had clicked.  Gabriel had a weird love for discussing the legal cases that came up in the news.  Dean would roll his eyes and nod and hum in barely feigned interest every time Gabriel brought some legal news up but Sam would instantly brighten and the two of them would get into animated conversations.  Gabriel loved when people got their just desserts, almost to the point of sick glee.  While Sam didn’t share that same delight, he did enjoy talking with someone who was as enthusiastic as he was.  Dean would often throw his hands up in disgust and walk off to do normal things, like watch Star Trek.  He was also pretty sure that Gabriel had a teensy crush on Sam, not that he would ever ask about _that_ , or think about it for that matter.  

 

Ever since Sam had moved into his own place, though, Dean had a feeling Gabriel hadn’t been seeing much of him.  Gabe had recently begun asking Dean about Sam in that offhand way that people used when they didn’t want to sound too eager.  Dean was getting more and more annoyed.  Gabriel just needed to buck up and _ask_ Sam to dinner.

 

Castiel smiled, “I look forward to meeting him, Dean.”  Dean smiled in response and nodded, thinking about how happy Sam would be to have the chance to make a friend at the university. He knew that Sam was starting to get nervous with classes starting in two weeks. It wasn't his first time teaching, he had done that at Stanford while working on his Masters, but it was his first time running a class on his own.  He caught sight of Meg walking in out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head to look at her, realizing that he had just been staring at Castiel _again_.  She was tying an apron around her waist and saying something to Jo.  Meg caught his eyes a moment later and he nodded at her then turned back to Cas and Gabe.  

 

“I’ll let Jo know you’re staying for lunch and have Ash clear the plates.  Pay up with Jo, yeah?” he smiled once more at Cas, who gave him a tentative smile in return then turned to Gabe.  Gabriel had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, making Dean instantly wary.  He pointed at Gabriel, “Gabe, I swear to God, if you're planning something stupid, I will hurt you.  I’m too fucking tired for any of your crap.”

 

Gabriel raised his hands in mock acquiescence, “Dean-o, you know me, do I ever do anything stupid?”

 

Dean just sighed and shook his head, turning to go talk with Meg and Jo.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive. I promise. I was having issues with this chapter. I'm also pretty sure I have pneumonia. I finally gave up and just posted it. I don't think I can keep to a schedule at the moment. I work at a university and school is starting next week so I've been incredibly busy. We're also working on our house, which takes more energy than I thought it would.
> 
> I like having Sam and Cas as professors, I blame it on working for a university. I also put the cliche in with "Cas" as a nickname because it amuses me.
> 
> Also, Smarties Cereal is from the IT Crowd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SSJBpdRmgg (about 40 seconds in), or at least that's where I've heard of it. I haven't tired it, though, that much sugar would send me into a coma I think.


	5. Chapter 5

Meg was talking quietly with Jo behind the counter.  As Dean got closer Meg turned to him and smirked, “I heard you had a bad morning today, hey Dean?”

 

Dean exhaled, annoyed, “Are you fucking kidding me?   _You_ _just got here_!  How did you hear about it?”

 

Meg shrugged a shoulder, “Ash was mumbling something when I got in.  I heard Gordon mentioned and asked about it.  I’m happy to remove a fingernail or two,” a nasty look came over her face.

 

Dean looked at her sharply.  He didn’t know Meg that well and could never tell if she was joking or not, “No, Meg, I think I can handle it.”

 

She raised both hands, “Okay, okay, just offering,” she smirked again then jerked her chin towards the table where Gabe and Cas were sitting, “what’s with Gabe and Angelface over there?”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Angelface?”

 

Meg rolled her eyes, “I’m sorry, you _cannot_ say that you didn’t notice just how _pretty_ that man is?  I mean, you’re cute and all but” she whistled lowly and fanned herself, “damn, that man is _hot_.”

 

A roil started low in Dean’s gut and _I saw him first!_ flashed through his mind but he tramped down on it almost immediately.  He had no claim to Castiel and didn’t even know if the man would be interested.

 

“Gabe’s brother, Castiel” Dean said, shortly.

 

Meg raised an eyebrow, “Castiel, hmm?  An angelic name for an angelic face.  They staying for lunch?”

 

Dean nodded, “Yeah, Sam will be stopping by and we’ll probably join them.  Be nice to the man,” Meg was staring at Cas with a predatory gleam in her eyes, “he’s coming off of a nasty hangover.”

 

Meg raised her hands again, an innocent smile blooming on her face, “Oh, Dean, I’m always nice to the pretty ones at first.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes.  He wasn’t worried, Gabriel could handle himself and had encountered Meg on multiple occasions and he was pretty sure Castiel could hold his own.  He turned to Jo, “Alright Jo, you and I, we’re going to have a little talk” Dean pointed his finger at Jo then to the back.  He could see her stiffen but she nodded, and turned on her heel, Dean following her.

 

She was obviously dreading this but so, too, was Dean.  He knew that he would have to tell Sam what happened today, for Sam’s protection in case Gordon was willing to go after him instead of Dean directly if nothing else.  Once he told Sam, Sam would ask if he had discussed it with Jo and he would eventually find out if Dean lied.  If he _didn’t_ talk to Jo now, Sam would insist on them talking with her together and then Dean would have to sit there while Sam gave him the fucking puppy dog eyes the entire time.  Dean was willing to deal with a little awkwardness now in order to avoid _that_.  When they got to the back room Dean closed the door and looked at Jo.  She had her arms wrapped around her in an obviously protective gesture but her chin was raised, even if she wouldn’t look him in the eye.  He pointed at a chair.  “Come on, have a seat, we’re going to talk about this” he said, his voice soft.

 

Jo nodded and sat down, staring at her hands on the table.  Dean sat across from her and just looked at her for a moment.

 

He sighed then said, “Jo, you’re lucky you’re like a sister to me and that I’m fucking exhausted or I’d be thinking of ways to kill you right now instead of just maim you” Jo looked up sharply and opened her mouth but Dean raised his hand, cutting her off, “no, you need to listen.  It hasn’t been a walk in the fucking park for me.  You think that with my life my realization that I like guys was _easy_?  This town is tiny.  I know that people probably heard rumors, whether they believed them or not.  I’m not an idiot.  Thank god I don’t give one flying fuck what anyone else thinks of me outside of family and that I can defend myself if I need to.  I’m okay with who I am and who I like to fuck but what if I wasn’t?  What if I hadn’t told Bobby, or even Sam?  How do you think I would feel if they found out like _this_?  If someone from the diner ran to them and whispered it into their ear like some dirty secret.  Or if John was still alive,” Jo winced at that, “I mean, hell, the only reason you know for sure is because you accidently walked in on me and Elliot.  And don’t think I don’t thank God, _every fucking day_ that you only saw us kissing.  Ugh.”  He fake shuddered and was glad to see a small smile on Jo’s face.

 

“Outing someone without their permission is a shitty thing to do, Jo.  Gordon was drunk enough that he didn’t pose a problem for me.  I could have protected myself pretty easily from him.  He might come back though, maybe with friends.  He might find someone weaker or smaller to take his frustration out on.  He’s a stubborn son of a bitch and he’s not going to give up just because he was kicked out of here.  I mean, what did you think was going to happen?  That the love of my life would just _waltz_ in here because they saw a sign?  Are you a secret romantic?” he narrowed his eyes at her and she gave a soft laugh.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, I _am_ angry and sad that you did that, but it’ll be okay eventually.  You owe me lunch for me and Sammy though, okay kiddo?” Dean said it gently.  He really wasn’t that angry anymore.  He was too tired to be angry, but it sounded like something he needed to say.

 

Jo nodded then caught his eye, “I _am_ sorry Dean.  I don’t know what else to say or do, other than I won’t do anything like that again and that I’ll help you beat the shit out of Gordon if he gives you any more trouble.”

 

Dean nodded, “Okay Jo, that sounds good.  Sammy will be here soon, could you send him back here if he comes through the front?  I think I’m just going to hang out back here,” he wasn’t going to tell her that he needed a break from Castiel and that, now that he was sitting somewhere away from that man and the heart palpitations caused every time Dean caught a glimpse of his blue eyes, his exhaustion hit him _hard_.  He wasn’t sure he could get up if he tried.

 

Jo agreed and stood.  She stared at him for a moment then walked around the table and hugged him.  Dean hesitated a moment then forced his tired arms up to hug her back briefly.  He thought that he heard her say “thanks” very softly but he couldn’t be sure.

 

She walked out of the back room, quietly closing the door behind with one last, soft smile at him.  He exhaled.  The dreaded talk was over.  He was done with work.  He didn’t need to do anything else today except for eat lunch, drive home and pass out.  With that thought Dean crossed his arms on the table and lowered his head onto them with a sigh.

 

**\--**

 

He heard the door swinging open and sat up with a surprised snort, quickly swiping at his mouth to wipe away the drool that he would deny was there.  Sam had been saying something but had stopped and now was just staring at Dean.

 

“What?” Dean asked.  He knew that his face was probably creased with lines and he felt his arms start to tingle as the blood started to flow more freely.

 

Sam furrowed his brow, “Dean,” he hesitated then went on, “were you sleeping?  Wait, did you _work_ this morning?  Didn’t you work last night?  I thought you were just here for breakfast,” his voice was getting more agitated with each word.

 

Dean sighed, “Yeah, Sammy, I worked this morning,” he was about to tell Sam about Ellen but Sam cut him off.

 

“Jesus, Dean, can’t you take one damn day off?  I mean, you had to have gotten, what, 4 hours of sleep, tops?  Are you having trouble with money, because you know that I can move back in if you need me to,” Dean rolled his eyes but he knew that Sam would continue ranting if he wasn’t stopped.  Dean raised a hand up and winced as the tingles in his arm turned more intense.

 

“Sam, stop talking.  Just sit down, okay?  I’ll explain.  I also need to tell you something.”

 

Sam instantly got a concerned look on his face, and quickly pulled a chair out, “Are you okay?  Ellen and Jo?  Ash?  What happened?”

 

Dean snorted a laugh, “Everyone is fine, Sam.  Ellen is feeling a little under the weather, she got that flu going around, and Jo asked if I could cover for her.  She hasn’t had a chance to train Ruby yet on anything but making mixed drinks and she needed someone who knows what they’re doing.  No, I just need to tell you about something that happened with Gordon this morning.”

 

Sam got a disgusted look on his face, “That man is trouble.  Did he give Jo issues this morning or something?”

 

Dean shook his head, rubbed his face and told Sam the entire story up to his talk with Jo.  He watched as Sam’s face got darker and darker.  Finally, Dean was done.  He felt even more exhausted.  Drained.   

 

He scratched at his stubbled cheek then said, “Jo is buying us both lunch, so order the most expensive thing on the menu, yeah?”

 

Sam snorted a laugh but his face was still worried, “We’ll keep an eye out for Gordon.  The man’s a drunk but you never know.  I’m glad Rufus was here and that you had a talk with Jo.”

 

Dean hummed in agreement, then cast about in his mind for a change in subject, needing to just _stop talking_ about this morning.  Now that it was over and he didn’t need to _talk_ to anyone anymore he was more than happy to just forget the whole thing.  

 

The perfect idea came to him, “Did you come in the front or back?”

 

Sam gave him a confused look, “The back, why?”

 

Dean grinned, “You haven’t seen Gabe and Cas yet, then.  Gabe’s excited to see you, you know.”

 

Sam rolled his eyes, “Did he get sugar this morning?”

 

Dean laughed, glad that Sam allowed the change in subject, “Yup, Benny’s cinnamon roll pancakes.”

 

“Oh _God_ , Dean.  Why the hell did you let him order _that_?”

  
Dean grinned, “You know I’m not going to risk my life getting between Gabriel and sugar,” he stood up, “come on, Sammy, let’s go eat lunch.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whee!
> 
> I just realized I can answer comments?
> 
> I never though I would get comments or anything on this. This story just kind of kept bopping around in my head and wouldn't leave me alone so I wrote it. But your comments and Kudos make me very happy, thank you! The people who left comments may be getting a message? I dunno, I've never done this before, is that normal? Am I weird? What is the meaning of life? 
> 
> *Ahem* Anyway, I'm tired. I apologize for any off spots in this. I had some issues writing parts of it. Also, I like mature Dean. This is also going to be a 'slow burn' story. I do have a whole long storyline in my head. But I wanted to let people know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay doke, I'm alive!
> 
> Been a stressful few weeks, family visiting, husband having a job interview, work being nutty.
> 
> I will try to have an estimated chapter count by the end of next week, promise!

Dean led Sam towards the table where Gabriel and Castiel were talking together, smiling at Jo and nodding to both Meg and Ash as he walked by.  When they got to the table Gabe and Cas both looked up at the same time.

 

“Cas, this is Sam, my brother.  Sammy, this is Castiel,” Dean smiled when Cas’s eyes widened as he traced them up Sam’s body until he got to his face.  Many people did that.  Sam was exceptionally tall.

 

Cas stuck his hand out, “It’s very nice to meet you Sam.”

 

Sam hesitated a moment then shook Cas’s hand, “You _are_ Gabe’s brother, right?”

 

Gabe rolled his eyes at that, “Yes, Sam, Cassie is my brother.  I know that it’s oh so surprising that someone related to me could possibly be that polite.  Little Cassie _is_ the black sheep in the family though.”

 

Sam laughed, glad that Gabe had caught the joke, “I never would have expected it.  I’m glad to meet you as well Castiel.  Are you still okay with us joining you for lunch?”

 

Cas nodded and Gabe pulled out a chair on the other side of the table, “Here you go Sam, you can sit here,” Gabe said, patting the chair seat.

 

Sam rolled his eyes but complied.  Dean plopped into the seat opposite him.  The instant they sat Meg came sliding up, as if she had been watching and waiting.  Which, Dean thought, she probably had.

 

She stood between Cas and Dean, perhaps a _little_ closer to Cas than need be, Dean thought.

 

“Heya boys, glad to see everyone’s here,” She nodded at Sam, “Sam, haven’t seen your cute butt here in a little while, almost forgot what you looked like.”

 

Sam smiled lightly, “Hi Meg, good to see you too.”

 

Meg focused her attention on Gabriel, “Oh, Gabe, darling, I heard you got a big old promotion.  Did they increase your candy allowance as well?”  Dean glanced at Gabriel.  He hadn’t heard about the promotion, had they really been that out of touch?

 

Gabe gave her a sickly sweet smile in return but didn’t say anything.

 

She nodded at Dean, who just rolled his eyes in reply.  Then she turned to Castiel.

 

“Gabriel, where did you hide this one, hmm?” she purred.

 

Castiel looked up at her, obviously slightly confused, “Hello, I’m Castiel.”

 

“Castiel, so _nice_ to meet you.  I’m Meg.  I’m friends with Dean and Sam,” Dean snorted at that, he was friendly with Meg but only just.  She knew Sam better.  

 

Sam had met Meg while he was moving into his office at the university.  Meg was a graduate student in Philosophy and Sam had gotten horribly lost trying to find his office on the first day.  Meg had pointed him in the right direction and decided to walk him to his office in order to make sure he didn’t “go blundering around the campus all on his own”.  They had been friendly, though had never been more than that.  Sam was too worried about the teacher/student relationship even if she was a graduate student outside of his department.  Sam had convinced her to apply for a job at the Roadhouse and the rest was history.  Dean had never become super friendly with Meg but she was a competent waitress and a good bartender.  The way that she was eyeing Cas right now made him want to rethink any kind feelings he had towards her, though.

 

Castiel held his hand out, “Nice to meet you, Meg.  I’ve only just moved into town but I’m sure we’ll get to know each other.”

 

Meg smiled widely and shook his hand, lingering a little.  Sam snickered and Gabe rolled his eyes.  Dean felt his gut roil again and this time it was harder to tramp down.  He finally cleared his throat, reminding himself that he had no claim on Cas.

 

“Meg, if you don’t mind, I’m hungry and exhausted.  Can I please order lunch?”

 

She let Castiel’s hand drop with one last caress and turned to look at Dean, “Sorry, Dean, what do you want?”

 

Dean ordered quickly, a double cheeseburger, then gestured to Sam, who ordered a salad, at which Dean rolled his eyes.  Gabe waved Meg off when she turned to him, but Cas ordered a soda and more toast.  Meg nodded at the group, gave one last flirtatious look to Cas, then turned on her heel to drop off the order.

 

Dean gave Cas a weary look, “Hey man, sorry about Meg, you can tell her to back off if you like.”

 

Cas looked surprised, “No, she seems friendly.  It’s good to meet new people.”

 

Sam snickered again, “Yeah, but Meg can be a bit predatory.  Once you let her know you’re not interested she usually backs off.  She’s actually a pretty cool person.”

 

Castiel shrugged, “I’ll be glad to have friends in town.  So, Sam, I heard that you will be teaching at the University this year?”

 

Sam brightened, “Yes!  I’m teaching two classes this semester, ‘Logic and Law’ and ‘Ethical Law’,” he started going into detail about his classes, the ideas he had for them and where he hoped they would go.

 

Dean rolled his eyes.  He had expected nothing less and Castiel seemed to be engrossed in the conversation.  Cas was now discussing his own teaching experience during graduate school and how he was so scared on the first day he got to his classroom forty-five minutes early.  Dean stared at Cas as he talked with Sam.  It was obvious by the way that his eyes were sparkling that the man loved what he did for a living.

 

“I knew they’d get along,” Gabe said quietly, obviously pleased.

 

Dean snorted, taking a moment longer to watch Castiel’s lips as he talked with Sam before he turned to look at Gabe, “Yeah, not surprising.  So, you got promoted?”

 

Gabe nodded and took a sip of his hot cocoa, “Yup, I’m VP of marketing now.  It comes with a pay raise but also with quite a bit more hours.  We’re such a small company that I may be VP but I’m also the only person in marketing, so I’ll be working some major overtime.  Cassie is going to be stuck without me quite a bit, I’m afraid.”

 

At the mention of his name both Castiel and Sam, who had finished up their conversation, turned to Gabe.  In a voice that spoke of an argument that had been hashed out before Cas said, “Gabriel, please don’t worry about it, you know that I can take care of myself.  I appreciate that you are letting me stay with you but it is not your job to amuse me, I _am_ an adult.”

 

Dean smiled and turned to Castiel, “You’re probably more of an adult than Gabe is, Cas.”

 

Gabe sniffed and turned to Sam, clearly choosing to ignore both Dean and Castiel.

 

Castiel smiled and Dean felt himself swaying towards Cas just a little as he stared.  He forced himself to lean back, _god damned gorgeous man_ he thought, then cleared his throat,“So you got in yesterday?”

 

The smile dropped from Castiel’s face, and he brought his eyes down to stare at his hands laying on the table “Yes, it was a rather long day for me.  I got in yesterday afternoon.”

 

“Sorry, man, didn’t mean to bring up an uncomfortable subject,” Castiel looked back up and caught his eye, one corner of his mouth tilting up.

 

“No, I’m just tired is all.  So, Dean, Sam is teaching at the university.  What do you do?  Other than making hangover smoothies for hungover idiots like me?”

 

Dean shook his head with a grin, “Nah, man, happens to everyone.  I’m just glad I could make it a little easier on you,” he hesitated for a moment.  He wasn’t ashamed of what he did.  In fact, he loved working on cars.  Being around someone as obviously well educated as Castiel, however, made him a little nervous to admit that he was just a mechanic and a bartender.  He turned to humor, “I’m a mechanic, like my father before me.”

 

Cas tilted his head, “Your father was a mechanic?”

 

Dean laughed softly, “Kind of.  He was in the marines and worked on cars for a while after he got out.  I was just making a bad _Star Wars_ joke.”

 

Cas nodded, his face clearing “I knew I had heard that from somewhere.  I haven’t seen _Star Wars_ since I was a child though.”

 

“Hey man, I’m always up for watching _Star Wars_.  The originals though, not that new crap.  You let me know if you want to revisit the trilogy.”

 

Cas smiled, “I think I would like that, Dean.”

 

Dean smiled in return.  Their conversation turned to movies they hadn’t watched since they were children, old TV shows they enjoyed and favorite foods.  Dean was surprised to find that Cas very much appreciated a good burger and enjoyed classic _Bugs Bunny_ cartoons.  He had expected that Cas would eat rabbit food almost exclusively, like Sam, and would only watch documentaries.  Dean filed the information away for possible later use.  He could make a damn good burger.  As they talked his eyes roamed over Cas’s face.  Dean found his eyes wandering from Cas’s lips, which Dean found himself wanting to nibble more than a little, all the way up to his hair, which looked even more sexed up than this morning, if that was possible.  Their eyes met and Dean couldn’t look away from the blue.  Cas’s eyes were bright and focused and the blue was still startling.  Dean should have been embarrassed, _would_ have been embarrassed, if it had been anyone else but he found that it just felt normal with Cas.

 

Meg cleared her throat.  She was standing behind Dean, when had he gotten so close to Cas anyway? holding their food.  Dean scooted back a little bit with a last smile at Cas.  Sam was staring at him and he could see Gabe grinning out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored both of them to focus on the heavenly smelling burger in front of him.  He was dimly aware that Meg dropped off Sam’s salad and Cas’s soda and toast.  He was also dimly aware that Gabe and Sam continued a conversation about some jerk who was on trial at the moment, with Cas joining the conversation.  Gabe, it seemed, was looking forward to the man getting his punishment.  The only thing Dean could get his tired mind to concentrate on at the moment, though, was the burger in front of him and Cas’s solid presence next to him.

 

He finished his burger without even realizing it, sighed deeply and sat back in his chair.  He was pleasantly full.  He could go home and pass out.  Then he remembered, “Hey, Sam,” he opened his eyes and looked at his brother, “Sorry, before I forget, you want to come over tonight and watch something nerdy with me?” realizing that Cas and Gabe were at the table he looked at both of them in turn, eyes staying on Cas he said, “you two are welcome as well, we could watch _Star Wars_?”

 

Cas smiled, “I would like that, Gabe?”

 

Dean caught Gabe nodding out of the corner of his eye and Sam saying, “Sure, Dean.”

 

Dean rapped on the table, “Awesome, come over around 7.  Sorry for eating and ditching but I’m exhausted and I’m going home.  You two, pay up with Jo, yeah?”

 

He gave Cas one last look and grabbed his dirty plates off the table.  After handing them to Ash he gave a vague wave goodbye in the general direction of the table, nodded at both Meg and Jo, then hightailed it to his Baby.  He was looking forward to getting to know Cas better and felt the need to catch up with Gabriel.  If _Meg_ knew that Gabe had gotten a promotion, what else was Dean behind on?  It was 2:30 now, he could get a decent amount of sleep and still have time to shave and clean up his house a little.  He didn’t examine the fact that he felt the need to look nice or that neither Gabe nor Sam had ever cared what his house looked like.  

  


\--

  


The drive home was a bit of a blur.  As soon as he was inside he kicked his shoes off then left a trail of clothes from his front door to his bed.  He sank into it with a sigh.  The one thing he had splurged on was his memory foam mattress, and it was completely worth it.  

 

He was almost asleep when he heard his doorbell ring.  It sounded for long enough that whoever it was at the door was obviously holding the button down.  They’d likely been ringing the doorbell for a while.

 

“God fucking damn it!” he rolled out of bed, yanked on a robe, stomped to the door and pulled it open with a jerk and a terse, “ _What?_ ”

 

Sheriff Jody Mills gave him a serene look from his doorstep and he instantly forced himself to calm down a little, “Sheriff Mills, sorry about that, it’s been a long day,” he rubbed the back of his neck.  Sheriff Mills was a smart, competent woman who had known him since he was a child.  She wasn’t about to take any lip from him and he knew it.

 

“Dean, I heard it was a bit of a long day.  I was just stopping by to check on you.  I heard you had a little tussle with Gordon.”

 

Dean exhaled sharply, “Are you fuc-freaking kidding me?  How did you hear about it?”

 

She gave him a small smile, “I got a few calls into the station, actually.  Seems some people were worried about you.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “I’m _fine_.  Gordon was just a little drunk.  I’ve been handling drunks since before I was 10 years old,” he flinched.  He hadn’t meant to say that, “I mean, I work at the Roadhouse.  I kind of handle drunks for a living.  If I wasn’t used to it I’d make a pretty shitty bartender.”

 

Sheriff Mills nodded, her face didn’t change, she didn’t look pitying.  She either hadn’t caught his slip up or was letting it slide, “Yes, but this was a personal attack and I wanted to make sure you were okay.  You know that we’ll have your back on this.  We may be a small town but a hate crime isn’t going to slip by while I’m still sheriff.”

 

Dean nodded, “I’ll let you know if Gordon gets in my face again, will that work?”

 

She pursed her lips but finally nodded, “That works just fine Dean, I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

 

He wasn’t in bed even two minutes after saying goodbye to Sheriff Mills when his phone rang.  At least this time it was playing _Wheel in the Sky_ , Bobby’s ringtone.   If _Bad Moon Rising_ had been playing he likely would have thrown the damn phone across the room.  He’d have to thank Sam for setting that up.

 

“Bobby,” Dean sighed as answer.

 

“Kid,” Bobby said in return, “you good?”

 

Dean knew this was Bobby’s way of telling Dean that he knew about what happened with Gordon.  Somehow he wasn’t surprised that Bobby knew already, “Yeah, Bobby, I’m good.”

 

He could head Bobby exhale, “Good, glad to hear it,” his voice was brusque, back to normal, “I wanted to let you know the shop’s going to be closed tomorrow.”

 

Dean shook himself awake a little, “What?”

 

“I found a car I want to go take a look at over in Kansas City.  I’m heading out tonight.  It’s being auctioned off early tomorrow.  Since we don’t have anything scheduled I’m just gonna close down for a day,” Bobby often did this.  He would find an old, crappy car up at auction or for sale, purchase it, clean it up and fix it up, then sell it to collectors.  He had a few buyers who consistently purchased certain types of cars from Bobby and, by this point, Bobby knew what to look for.  Since Dean was the only full-time employee besides Bobby, with a few others being called in on an as-needed basis, it wasn’t a big deal for him to close down for a day.  They even called Ash in on occasion if someone brought one of those “new-fangled” cars with their “technology and computer screens and unnecessary flashing things”.

 

“Do you need company?” Dean didn’t want to go on a road trip tonight but he couldn’t leave Bobby making the drive himself.

 

“Nah, boy, Rufus is coming up with me.  There’s something or other that he wants to have a look at.  For his collections.”

 

“You sure?  I don’t mind,” Dean could have kicked himself.  Having tomorrow off would be awesome.

 

“Yeah, Dean.  How about this, I’ll let you take first crack at the car when I get it back, okay?” Dean nodded then rolled his eyes at his stupidity.

 

“Sure, Bobby, sounds good.  Have a good trip and let me know if you need me to do anything.”

 

They said goodbye and Dean hung-up, silenced the damn phone, something he should have done as soon as he got home, and settled back on the bed.  His last thought before drifting off was, _huh, I actually_ will _have a day off.  Maybe I can spend it with Cas_.

  
He didn’t have time to examine what, exactly, it meant that he was already planning to spend his day off with Cas.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Dean sighed as he threw the last of his dirty clothes into the hamper in his closet.  His house was clean, or at least it looked decent, and after some hesitation he had cleaned out his room and changed his sheets.  He told himself that he wasn’t _expecting_ anything, his room needed cleaning anyway.

 

He had woken an hour earlier, rock hard and gasping.  He remembered nothing from his dreams but bright blue and dark brown and _heat_.  After a few minutes of sitting with his head in his hands and trying to will his erection away he sighed, walked clumsily to the shower and took care of things.  He had tried his best to keep the images in his mind away from Castiel.  Somehow it felt wrong to think of the man while he was jerking off.

 

Every time he managed to get Castiel out of his mind, however, blue would squirm into his thoughts and a bolt of lust would hit him.  He felt himself getting closer to the edge and he moved his hand faster, changing his grip so that it twisted lightly over the head of his cock on each smooth stroke.  He placed his other hand against the shower wall and tilted his head back, closing his eyes.  As soon as he did an image seared into his brain, Castiel on his knees in front of Dean, his lips wrapped around Dean’s dick and his eyes looking up at him through lowered lashes.  With that image in his mind he came with a deep groan.

 

His head dropped forward as he stroked himself through the last of his orgasm.  He opened his eyes and watched the strings of white being washed away from the shower wall.  He groaned and banged his head against the wall lightly.  He was so fucked.

 

**\--**

 

Sammy arrived minutes after Dean finished the cleaning.  He was bearing various drinks including nicer, top shelf beer.  Sam refused to drink any of the “swill” that Dean kept in the fridge.  Dean grumbled that his stuff was just as good, and cheaper, and that Sam was just wasting his money.  He didn’t examine the fact that the stuff he bought was usually the same stuff that his father used to prefer. He would always snag a bottle or two of the good stuff when Sam wasn’t looking, though.  

 

Dean sat down on the couch, flicking off the top of one of the nice beers.  Sam sat down on the chair next to the couch and the brothers clinked bottles and drank in unison.  Dean sighed as he finished his mouthful and sat back, rubbing his jaw and staring at the label on the bottle.  It was actually pretty damn decent beer.  He might have to consider splurging and keeping a few in his fridge for special occasions.

 

Sam sat back too and stared at Dean, “So, Dean,” Sam’s voice was hesitant.  Dean glanced at Sam and raised a brow, Sam continued, “You seemed to get along pretty well with Castiel this afternoon.”

 

Dean nodded, shrugged and closed his eyes, dropping his head back to rest on the back of the couch.  He wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question in Sam’s voice, or really what Sam was asking in the first place.  He willed images of Castiel away as he answered, “Yeah, he seems like a nice guy.  You can hang out with him or whatever it is you smart people do between teaching classes, you two seemed to get along as well.”

 

Dean watched Sam warily through slitted eyes, his head still resting on the couch.  Sam smiled briefly and took another sip of the beer without taking his eyes off Dean and Dean was pretty sure that Sam was about to ask him some pretty uncomfortable questions.  He saw Sam open his mouth but close it again as a knock sounded at the back door.  Dean took a sip of his beer, placed it on the end table and stood.  He looked at Sam, who was still watching him closely and grinned.   _Saved by the knock_ he thought wryly.  Dean knew that Sam wasn’t about to let it go, he had wanted to be a lawyer after all, but at least he was given a little time to sort out his feelings towards Castiel before he had to face Sam’s questions.

 

He opened his front door to find Gabriel standing there, a shit-eating grin on his face.  When Gabriel saw Dean he flung open his arms, one hand holding a pan and loudly said, “Dean-O!  I brought caramel brownies!”  He waved the pan around Vanna White style.  Dean rolled his eyes and opened the door wider, letting Gabriel enter.  He heard Gabe shout to Sam and shook his head slightly.  Then his eyes fell on Castiel, who was standing a little ways down the walk.  

 

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel said, giving him a small, almost shy, smile.  Dean’s heart thundered once in his chest before settling into a fast rhythm at the sight.  Castiel was dressed in jeans and a dark blue, very soft looking, sweater under the same too big trench coat he had been wearing that morning.  He looked good and Dean felt his mouth go dry.  He suddenly realized that he was just staring at Castiel like an idiot and quickly covered it up by coughing and stepping back.

 

“Hey, Cas,” he motioned towards the inside of the house with his hand, “come on in.”

 

**\--**

 

They worked out the pizza situation.  Cas was happy with anything, Sam asked for a salad and said he would steal a slice or two and Dean tried to talk Gabriel out of putting freakin’ pineapple on the pizza, though he was more than happy to keep the bacon.  While Gabriel and Dean argued about pizza toppings Sam and Castiel grabbed drinks from the fridge and retreated to the living room.  Dean could see them standing and talking out of the corner of his eye.  He called the pizza place up and started placing the order, Gabriel still yelling some bullshit about how pineapple gave a little extra sweetness and Dean would like it if he would just stop being such a stubborn ass.  Dean finally glared at Gabriel, holding the phone away from his mouth, and hissed “My house, my rules, I pick the pizza toppings, go sit the fuck down” Gabe just threw his hands in the air and left Dean in the kitchen to finish the order in blissful silence.

 

Dean knew that Gabriel wasn’t actually upset, they had a similar argument on a fairly regular basis but he grabbed one of the nice beers for Gabriel as an apology all the same.  As Dean walked to the couch where Gabe was sitting he overheard some of the conversation between Sam and Cas.  Cas seemed to be asking Sam questions about the campus.  From what Dean heard Castiel hadn’t had the chance to see all of the campus yet, and was curious about classrooms, offices and places to eat nearby.  

 

Dean handed the beer to Gabriel as he sat next to him on the couch, and grabbed his own beer from the side table.  Gabriel tipped the bottle towards Dean in thanks and took a sip, humming in appreciation.  Dean glanced at Cas to make sure that he was still engrossed in his conversation with Sam and said to Gabe, “So, you have a brother.  You never mentioned any siblings.”

 

Gabe nodded, “Yeah, I’m one of seven actually”

 

“Seven?” Dean asked, inhaling his sip of beer and coughing.  Sam looked over with a raised brow but Dean waved at him and he went back to talking to Cas, hands waving animatedly.

 

“Yup,” Gabe looked pleased with himself, “You know that bible verse about having lots of kids and prospering?” Dean shook his head and Gabe grinned, “Neither do I but apparently it’s in there somewhere.  Well, my parents took that to heart.  They also adopted two children while they were missionaries in Africa.  And, yeah, don’t get me started on that whole thing,” Gabriel sighed, “My parents tried, I suppose.  I don’t exactly get along with most of the people in my family and I kind of cut ties when I left, so I tend to not mention them.  Cassie is one of the exceptions.  You may meet Anna as well, we’re not sure on that yet.”

 

Dean raised one eyebrow and Gabe continued, “Cassie escaped, Anna is considering it.  From what I hear, at least,” then took a sip of his beer.

 

“Escaped?” Dean asked, surprised, “You make your family sound like a cult.”

 

Gabriel nodded, face going hard, “After my dad disappeared and my mom died it did kind of turn into a cult.  Michael was 23 by then.  Raphael and Uriel, my brothers who were adopted, weren’t far behind him.  Lucifer up and left shortly before my dad disappeared.  I skedaddled the night I turned 18, two years after my mom died.  Anna was 14 when I left and Cas was only 12, so they’ve had to deal with Michael the longest.  Anna is still there, she’s old enough to leave but I think she’s a bit scared of being on her own.  She was coddled as the only girl.  Cassie had a falling out, and found his way to me, but that’s not my story to tell.  Ask him if you’re interested.”

 

Gabriel took another sip of his beer then sighed, “Anyway, my parents were religious but in the ‘Do good, God loves everyone, be kind’ kind of way.  My dad left us to go on some missionary thing and disappeared, my mom passed away a few months after that.  I don’t think Michael could handle it.  He was angry at my parents for saddling him with me and Anna and Castiel, since we were all underage at the time.  You know, he had just graduated college and had a girlfriend and was just starting his life and all of a sudden he had three teenagers he was responsible for.  So he turned to God.  But not the God that my parents believed in.  He turned to the vengeful God.  The one that people say will destroy the world because some people are gay,” Gabriel rolled his eyes.  “Cassie stuck around until he finished college and was the dutiful brother the entire time.  I’m not quite sure how he did it.  I could barely spend five minutes with my dear brothers before wanting to kill one or all of them.  I made regular trips back, mostly to make sure that they weren’t mistreating Cassie and Anna.”

 

Dean’s eyes sharpened, and his question came out harder than he expected, “Were they?”

 

Gabriel laughed quietly and shook his head, “Nah, despite the fact that all my brothers, Castiel excluded of course, are huge douchecanoes, they never raised a hand to Castiel or Anna.  They made Cassie go to some crazy church every morning and shoved the vengeful God shit so far down his throat that I’m surprised he walked away sane, but it’s okay now, I suppose.”

 

Dean was about to ask why Anna had not been given the same treatment as Cas when Sam interrupted them, “Hey, Gabe, I got a question for you, can you come over here?”

 

Dean looked over to Sam, narrowing his eyes, Castiel was nowhere to be seen.  Dean was pretty sure that Sam was up to something, and was even more sure when Sam gave him a light smile and fucking _winked,_ but Gabriel stood up from the couch so fast that Dean couldn’t have stopped him if he tried.

 

Dean just rolled his eyes at that, and Sam only smiled wider and gestured at Gabriel to examine something or other sitting on Dean’s bookshelf.  They looked like two little kids sharing a secret with their heads so close together.  Dean took a sip of his beer, closing his eyes and tilting his head back again.  This beer really was damn good.  He took another sip, savoring the flavor.  He’d switch to his regular stuff after he finished this one, leave the good stuff for Sam, Gabe and Cas.

 

“May I join you?” Dean jerked his head up at the deep voice, spluttering on his beer.  Cas was standing a foot away, which was damn close, and Dean hadn’t even heard him.  Dean coughed, trying to get his breath back and nodded, placing the beer bottle on the table.  He glanced over at Sam as he turned back and saw the bastard grinning at him.

 

Cas sat down close enough that Dean felt the couch cushion tilt a little and he could feel the body heat rolling off of Cas.  He had taken off his trench coat and the sweater he was wearing hugged his torso, giving tantalizing hints of a strong, lean body.  Cas had rolled his sleeves up and his forearms looked strong as well as he worked at peeling away the corner of the label of his beer bottle then smoothing it back down again.  Dean also couldn’t help but notice that Cas’s fingers were long and elegant.

 

He cleared his throat and said, “So, Cas, are you settling in?”

 

Cas looked up at him sharply and nodded, with a small smile, “Yes, thank you, Dean.  Gabriel is very kind for letting me stay with him.  I got a little unpacking done today after leaving the diner.”

 

Dean nodded and said, “Good, good,” then lapsed into uncomfortable silence.  Somehow all the easiness that he had felt at the Roadhouse had fled and he was stuck watching Cas’s goddamn beautiful fingers work at the goddamn label while images of those fingers elsewhere flashed through his brain.

 

Cas suddenly spoke, turning to look at him, “You have a very lovely house, Dean.”

 

Dean grinned and he felt something in him ease.  He could handle this, “Thanks.  I’ve put a lot of work into it,” Dean was rightly proud of his house.

 

Cas gave him a curious look, “You built it yourself?”

 

Dean shook his head, “Nah, but it was,” he hesitated for a moment, not quite sure what to say, “it just needed a lot of work and I’m handy.  I actually rebuilt some of the upstairs and updated it.”

 

Cas rocked his head back, looking impressed, “Well, from what I’ve seen, you’ve done a wonderful job.”

 

Dean rubbed his hand over his jaw, trying to hide the blush creeping up his cheeks.

 

Cas asked, voice neutral, “May I have a tour?”

 

Dean quickly stood up from the couch, glad to have an excuse to put a little space between himself and Cas.  He rubbed sweating palms on his jeans and said, “Of course!  Sorry, Gabe has been over so often that I forgot.”

 

Cas shook his head with a small smile and stood as well, “It’s not a problem at all,” he placed his beer on the table as well and Dean noticed that he used a coaster.  He was constantly having to remind Gabe that he liked his tables _without_ rings on them but that didn’t seem to be a problem with Cas.  

 

Cas motioned with his hands and said, “Lead the way,” smiling faintly.

 

Dean smiled back at him and walked out of the living room, carefully not looking at either Sam or Gabe.

  


**\--**

 

Cas made all the appropriate noises as Dean led him on a tour.  The bottom floor was easy enough, he pointed out the bathroom so Cas wouldn’t have to ask later, and the office, which was rarely used now that Sam had moved out.  On the second floor Dean showed Cas the two extra bedrooms, both clean thanks to Dean’s earlier frustrations, but neither of them furnished.  Cas didn’t ask any uncomfortable questions, like why Dean was living in a house with three bedrooms by himself.  He just looked interested as Dean explained how he was planning to refinish the floors in the bedrooms and how he had been forced to learn wiring after Sam had killed all the electricity in the house when he had turned his computer on for the first time.

 

Dean was trying to keep down a laugh as he recounted how Sam had _completely_ overreacted to finding himself in the dark all of a sudden, “so Sam had just moved in and still wasn’t sure where everything was and I wake up to hear him falling down the stairs and yelling at me like it was _my_ fucking fault that his computer shit shorted out the electricity.  I find him in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, still yelling and cursing at three in the damn morning.  The noise actually woke our neighbor, and she ended up calling Sheriff Mills on us thinking we were having a lovers spat.  Old Ms. Josie has just a touch of dementia, even then, and she still asks me whatever happened to that nice, tall boyfriend of mine, but I learned how to rewire a house because of it.”

 

Cas was laughing quietly and Dean opened the door to his bedroom with a grin, flipping the light on, “this is the master.”

 

Cas passed by him into the master bedroom, still chuckling and looked around.  Dean was suddenly intensely grateful that he had cleaned.

 

Cas smiled and said, “it’s very nice, Dean,” he motioned to the bathroom, “you have an en suite?”

 

Dean felt his face flush lightly as he remembered what he had been doing in that shower just a few hours earlier and cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah, the master needed the most work so I added the bathroom to it, since it shares the wall with the bathroom in the hall it was easy, figured it would add value.”

 

Cas nodded then wandered over to Dean’s bookshelf.  He motioned to a shelf as Dean walked up next to him, “I love Vonnegut.”

 

Dean smiled, “So do I,” he ran his finger lightly over the spine of the first edition Sam had gotten for him the Christmas after he had gotten into Stanford.  He had received a different first edition every year after that and was fiercely proud of his growing collection.  He had cheap editions of the books for when he actually wanted to _read_ them, though.

 

He turned to find Cas looking at him with a soft smile.  Dean smiled back.  He realized just how close he was standing to Cas, and that Cas hadn’t moved away, was making no move to back away.  Dean’s eyes trailed over Cas’s face, lit by the soft light coming from the bedside lamp, and he saw Cas dart his tongue out quickly to wet his bottom lip.  Dean’s eyes focused on that flicker of movement and he felt himself sway forward.  Dean brought his eyes back up to Cas’s, only to find the man staring at his lips.  Dean’s smile widened and Cas’s eyes jumped back up to his, a flush coming to his face.

 

“Dean,” Cas’s voice was low and held a questioning tone.  His hand drifted upwards dreamily and Dean’s eyes flicked back and forth between his lips and those blue eyes, his own tongue darting out to wet suddenly dry lips.  He wondered just how soft Cas’s lips actually were and how they would taste.

 

“Dean!” Dean jerked his head back at the shout that came from downstairs. Sam sounded exasperated enough that it was obvious he had been trying to get Dean's attention for some time.

 

“DEAN!  The pizza’s here and I can’t find where you put the fucking money!” he could hear Sam clomping up the stairs.  Dean didn’t move his eyes away from Cas but he saw Cas’s eyes flicker towards the door, breaking the spell that had seemed to fall over them both.  Cas dropped his hand and turned as Sam barreled through the door.

 

“Oh,” Sam’s voice was slightly startled, “Um, sorry, pizza’s here.  We don’t have cash and we can’t find any money.”

 

Dean sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, Sammy, I got it,” he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed Sam the money, “that should cover it, no change.”

 

Sam nodded and backed out of the door, “Yeah, okay Dean, we’ll see you down there in a bit.”

 

He disappeared out of the door and Dean huffed out a breath, “fuckin’ figures” he said under his breath.

 

Cas looked over at him without turning his head, his face was still flushed and he bit the corner of his mouth, obviously fighting a smile.  Dean laughed lightly and shook his head.

 

“Come on, we should head down,” Dean gestured for Cas to lead the way.  He may or may not have found his eyes drifting downwards to catch a glimpse of a very well formed butt encased in dark jeans.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, I've never written anything like this and I'm freaking out just a teensy bit. Also it's 2, or 1 or something, in the morning (whee daylight savings) and I'm tired and didn't edit as well as I should have.
> 
> Also, my computer's hard drive went kaboom and I lost a bunch of stuff and have been working like crazy to restore it. Fun times.
> 
> I'm going to guess that this story will be around 20 chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

As Dean approached the kitchen, he could hear quiet talking and rustling.  He followed Cas to find Sam mixing his salad in a bowl and Gabriel loading up a plate with pizza slices.  As soon as they walked in the talking stopped and Gabe stuck a slice of pizza in his mouth, chewing noisily.  When Dean looked at him Gabe just raised an eyebrow, daring him to say something.  Dean huffed out a laugh but he saw Cas wrinkle his nose at his brother.

 

He went to the fridge and started rummaging in it, looking for one of his beers and saying, “Do you guys want to move into the living room?  We can start a movie,” he heard movement and turned around to find that Gabe and Sam had both abandoned the table.  He could hear arguing in the living room over who would sit where and rolled his eyes.  He grabbed plates and handed one to Cas, who took it with a nod of thanks.  Dean opened his beer and leaned back against the counter, watching Cas carefully select pizza slices.

 

Cas’s brow was slightly wrinkled and he looked like his thoughts were a million miles away.  Dean’s mind bounced back to what he thought had almost happened in his bedroom and he felt a shiver of pleasure go through his body.  He couldn’t think about that though, he needed to stop thinking about anything like that.  This man was devastatingly attractive and from what Gabriel had said, fucking smart.  He’d charm the pants off of every single professor, and probably most of the students, at the university.  Likely without even knowing what he was doing.  And some professor would catch his eye and they would have disgustingly intelligent conversations over breakfast and have beautiful, smart children.  And Cas would share some secret smile with whomever he found and wrinkle his nose when he laughed.  And they would be happy.  Dean had a GED, 6 bucks to his name and his work.  He could never be the person Cas would want or need and he needed to stop thinking that it was even a possibility _now_ unless he wanted to be destroyed later.

 

He must have made some noise without realizing it because he saw Cas look up at him, his brow still wrinkled in thought.  Dean felt his heart stutter in his chest at how adorable Cas looked in that moment and he smiled before realizing what he was doing.  It took Cas a moment to focus on Dean but once he did Dean felt the weight of his gaze settle on him and a smile bloomed slowly on Cas’s face, making his eyes light up.  That was enough to make Dean realize that he was breaking the vow he had _just made, goddamn it_ and he shifted his weight against the counter uncomfortably, looking down.  

 

His gaze fell on the beer can in his hand and he cleared his throat, asking, “Sorry, I should have offered earlier, do you want something else to drink?”

 

Dean glanced up to see the smile faltering on Cas’s face.  Dean almost winced but then Cas smiled again.  It was different though.  It wasn’t the smile that had lit Cas’s face just a few moments before.  This was an impersonal smile.

 

Dean shifted again, not sure why his gut roiled at the fact that he had been the reason behind that smile leaving Cas’s face.  He tried to cover that feeling up saying, “We’ve got the beer of course, the stuff that Sam brought is way better than what I’ve got,” he raised the hand holding the beer to demonstrate, then went on “Um, I’m also got some soda and water.  Maybe even some juice if you want that.”

 

He saw Cas studying him with a puzzled expression, though he still had that damn impersonal smile on his face.  Dean cleared his throat and shifted again, standing up fully.   

 

Cas seemed to shake himself out of it and said, “Just some water, I think, after last night.  And I still have some beer in the other room.”

 

Dean nodded, turned and got Cas a glass of water, making himself focus on what he was doing.  His hands were trembling slightly and he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

 

He turned to find Cas only a foot away and jumped with a surprised yelp of, “Jesus!,” water splashing over his hand.

 

Cas grinned, and said, “Thank you, Dean,” reaching out and gently removing the cup from Dean’s hand.  Dean forced himself to not notice that Cas’s hand may have lingered a little longer than normal.

 

“You need to wear a bell or something, gonna give a guy a fucking heart attack,” Dean shook the water from his hand, heart pounding.  He was pretty sure it was due to Cas scaring the bejesus out of him and not the fact that Cas had only taken a small step back and was still standing close enough that Dean could smell his shampoo or body wash or whatever it was that smelled _damn_ good on him.

 

Cas grinned at him and took a sip of water, eyes lingering on Dean’s face.  Dean could feel his face heating up and rubbed at the back of his neck.  Cas stared at him a beat longer then reached his free hand out to touch Dean’s shoulder saying, “So, Dean.”

 

Dean could feel the warmth of Cas’s fingers on his shoulder, the tingle from that light touch travelled swiftly down Dean’s arm then back, up into his head, making him feel slightly light-headed.  With that all of the _stupid ass_ vows that he had made to himself went flying from his head.  He took a step forward and brought his lips down to Cas’s.  It wasn’t his best kiss, mostly just a mashing of mouths together, as he was far too frustrated.  He realized that Cas really wasn’t responding and broke the kiss, stepping back quickly until his hips collided hard with the counter.

 

“Shit,” he said under his breath, “fuck.”  Of course he had fucked this up.  After only knowing Cas for a few hours at that.  He fucked up everything that was good or could be good in his life.  He snapped his mouth shut, telling himself to shut up and figure out what the hell to say to maybe salvage a friendship at the very least.  How had he read this so very wrong?  He risked a look at Cas and froze when he saw the naked heat in the other man’s eyes.  

 

Cas licked his lips and Dean’s eyes automatically flicked to watch the motion, then back up to Cas’s eyes, which were now hooded.  Cas took a step forward, crowding into Dean’s space, and reached around Dean to place his water cup on the counter.  His hands fell to Dean’s hips and he tugged gently to bring Dean closer then kissed him.  It wasn’t rushed this time.  Cas’s lips moved over his own, teasing.  Dean felt a light nibble on his lower lip followed by a tongue soothing over it and sighed into the kiss.  He opened his mouth and followed Cas’s tongue, licking into the man’s mouth and swallowing the sweet sound that came from him.

 

He felt Cas’s hands move around to his butt and he rolled his hips forward with a low groan.  He brought one hand up to cup Cas’s jaw, feeling stubble scratch his palm.  The other hand he fisted in Cas’s shirt, tugging him forward until Cas collided softly with him.  He angled Cas’s head so he could deepen the kiss and loosened the hand gripping Cas’s shirt, dropping it to his hip, sneaking his thumb up and under the sweater to rub lightly at the soft skin of Cas’s hipbone.  This elicited a low moan from Cas and Dean took the opportunity to angle the man’s face further, moving his lips down to nibble along his jawline then up to his ear.

 

Cas gasped as Dean’s teeth lightly closed over his earlobe and Dean rolled his hips again, feeling his body responding.  He heard Cas chuckle darkly into his ear and push gently against his hips until he was backed up against the counter.  Cas found his lips again for a soft, lingering kiss, then backed up, keeping his hands on Dean’s hips.

 

“Perhaps,” Cas’s voice was somehow deeper than it had been, and that hint of rough gravel was even more pronounced “Perhaps,” he said again, “we should,” he hesitated, “resume this at a later time, when our brothers are not in the other room?” Cas quirked a brow and Dean felt a growl bubble in his throat at the gesture.  He was more than willing to just throw Gabriel and Sam out of his house but Cas was right, though likely not in the way he thought.  Dean needed to get his head together.  Knew he should take a step back and have some space so he could clear his head and think about just what the fuck he was doing.

 

Dean cleared his throat, “Yeah, um, sure,” he could have sounded more suave, cringed inwardly at himself in fact, but he was reeling from the lack of contact and from the pure _need_ thrumming through him.

 

Cas gave his hips a squeeze then reached for his water glass.  He raised it in salute, taking a sip, then turned back to his plate.  Cas’s lips were swollen and there were flags of color high on his cheeks.  It cheered Dean a little to know that Cas wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended.  Cas gathered his things and with a wink at Dean he turned and walked into the living room.

 

Dean took a moment to breathe.  He should figure out what the _fuck_ he was doing.  But his body still tingled and he could still taste Cas on his tongue.  He decided that he could figure it out tomorrow.  He shook his head to clear it, willed his body to stand down, and stood up to gather his own dinner and join everyone in the living room.

 

**\--**

 

He entered the living room to find Gabriel sitting on the end of the couch, closest to the chair where Sam was sitting.  Castiel was sitting next to him, leaving a space open on the couch.

 

Gabriel smirked at him and said, “ _Finally_ , we were wondering how long you two could make out in there,” then stuck a slice of pizza in his mouth while waggling his eyebrows.

 

Dean rolled his eyes but he could feel the blood rushing to his face.  He very carefully did not look at Sam, who had suddenly started coughing.  Cas just looked composed.  

 

He placed his pizza on the coffee table and turned to his DVDs, “Okay, what are we watching?”

 

Sam cleared his throat and said, amusement still lacing his voice, “ _Star Wars_?  I know you have work in the morning but we could watch the first one.”

 

Dean nodded, “Works for me.  And I actually don’t have work in the morning, Bobby’s on one of his car searches and he’s headed out to Kansas City with Rufus.  Still gotta work at The Roadhouse tomorrow night but I have the day off.”

 

“Perfect!” Gabriel sounded far too happy, making Dean instantly wary, “You can help Cassie move into his office!  I had to help him move boxes around today while he whined about his hangover, I don’t think I could stand another day of it.”

 

Dean turned around slowly, “I’m… sorry, what?”

 

Castiel turned sharply to his brother, “Gabriel, I will _not_ ask Dean to work on his day off.  Especially after the day he had today.”

 

Gabriel faced Castiel, pleased, “No, it’ll be perfect!  Sam and I can meet you for lunch,” Gabe ignored Sam’s shout of _hey, don’t bring me into this!_ and continued, turning to Dean, “and you can show Cassie all the good places in town and show off how strong you are.  It’s great, perfect in fact!”

 

Castiel shook his head, “Please, Dean, don’t listen to Gabriel, I will be just fine tomorrow.”

 

Dean considered it for a moment, thought about how nice it would be to have a true day off.  He ignored that little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he needed space.  That this path was not good and would only lead to heartbreak, “Nah, I wouldn’t mind.  It would be nice to see where Sam is going to be working, anyway.  Roadhouse shift starts at 6.”

 

Over protestations from Cas they worked it out.  Dean would drive over to Gabe’s at 10 and pack up the car; they would meet Sam and Gabe for lunch at a cafe near the University.  Dean would help Cas unpack until it was time for work, when Sam would take Cas on a tour of the university.  With that decided, Dean stuck the movie in the player, shut off the lights and joined Cas, who was still protesting, on the couch.

 

He turned to Cas as the movie started and said quietly, “Just be grateful.  I don’t mind, and I’m sure you can find some way to thank me.”

 

He had not _meant_ for it to come out like that.  He had meant that Cas could get him dinner and a beer or something but as soon as the words had slipped out of his mouth he knew how they sounded.  It didn’t help that Gabriel started choking and that even Sam was grinning stupidly.

 

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, his face flaming.  In a louder voice he said, “Gabriel, shut up and hand me my beer.”

 

Gabriel snorted a few more times but dutifully handed Dean what was left of the good beer.  He took a sip.  It was warm but still better than his stuff.  As the words scrolled up on the screen, setting up the movie and Princess Leia’s race across the galaxy he felt a hand slide onto his knee and give it a soft squeeze.

 

“Thank you.” Cas said quietly, not moving his hand.

  
Dean grinned in the dark and covered Cas’s hand with his own as Princess Leia faced down Darth Vader.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay doke. Still freaking out a bit and had a lot of trouble with the dirtier parts. I also changed my timeline around a little so I had to edit this chapter. For those that celebrate Thanksgiving and/or Hanukkah I hope that all went well!


	9. Chapter 9

By the end of the night Dean knew that he was in a shitload of trouble.  They had laughed and talked their way through the movie, Dean learning new tidbits about Cas, like the first and only time he had seen the _Star Wars_ trilogy until now was with his parents, who had enjoyed the movies.  That he was worried about his upcoming courses but he was excited to meet his new colleagues and students.  That he was scrambling to complete a paper that he had agreed to give at a conference in December and wasn’t completely sure why he had thought it was a good idea in the first place.

 

Dean shared as well, though he was careful about avoiding certain topics.  He knew that Cas would find out about his past eventually, and it was likely that Gabriel had told him at least a little bit already.  Everyone in the town knew and it would get around.  Dean wasn’t worried about that.  He was more worried that if he told Cas too much, let him burrow too far under Dean’s skin, Cas would ruin him.  He needed to be careful.  Regardless of the heated kiss in the kitchen and the potential promise of more he knew that, given time, Cas could break him into pieces and he would never be able to put himself back together again.

 

Gabriel talked them into watching _The Empire Strikes Back_ , despite groans from everyone else about how late it was.  Gabe had announced that he hadn’t gotten his pineapple pizza and that everyone else could suck it, because he was watching _Empire_ goddamn it!  Dean just rolled his eyes but heaved himself up and switched the DVDs.  He saw Gabe wiggle back into the couch with a satisfied grin.  Sam just snorted, standing to grab something from the kitchen.  Gabe scrambled after him almost immediately.

 

Cas let out a soft laugh at that and Dean turned to him, “My brother,” Cas said with a small smile, “is nothing if not obvious.”

 

Dean returned the smile, “Yeah, I didn’t expect anything else from Gabe though, I don’t think Sam has figured it out yet.”

 

Cas tilted his head in acknowledgement, eyes sparkling, “Thank you again for helping me move tomorrow.”

 

Dean shrugged, taking his seat, “Not a problem.  I’d like to see where Sammy will be working this year anyway,” he took a swig of his beer and winced at the taste, it wasn’t nearly as good warm as the stuff from Sam.

 

He glanced at Cas from the corner of his eye as the man continued to watch him.  He looked like he was considering something but all he said was, “You and Sam are very close, aren’t you?”

 

Dean nodded once, “Yeah,” he wasn’t quite sure what to tell Cas about their childhood, wasn’t sure if he wanted the pitying looks or how Cas would likely go quiet and awkward around him after he learned their past.  He left it at that single word.

 

Cas continued to look at him then said, “It’s good, my family is not particularly close.  I think I would have liked that kind of relationship with my brothers.”

 

Dean didn’t know what to say to that either. In a moment of panic he opened his mouth, ready to let his whole history, his mom dying, his dad slipping, the alcohol and the arrests, slip out when Gabriel came bouncing back in the living room carrying a plate that he had transferred a, rather large, pile of his caramel brownies to.

 

“Brownies!” he exclaimed, plopping the plate on the coffee table and passing out napkins.

 

Dean turned his attention to the brownies, pissed with himself for what he had almost said.  He knew that Cas continued to watch him for a moment but Dean ignored the bright eyes scanning his face and took a bite of the brownie, chocolate and salted caramel exploding in his mouth and Cas turned away to focus on his own brownie.

 

Gabriel was glancing between Cas and Dean, “Wellllllll?  How do you like them?  They’re my own recipe.”

 

Cas swallowed and glanced at his brother, “Quite good, Gabriel.  Better than your attempt when you were a teenager.”

 

Gabriel snorted, “I still believe those were fantastic, just because you all couldn’t deal with a little extra chocolate sauce.  Dean?  What do you think?”

 

Dean had stuffed the rest of the brownie in his mouth, “Mmph, ‘s good,” he said through a mouthful of chocolate and caramel.

 

Gabe’s face split into a grin, “Good!” he wiggled back into the couch again, “Now start the movie!”

 

Dean sighed and pressed play, snagging another brownie as Sam walked back in the living room juggling two glasses of water and a plate of fruit, his dessert.  He placed one of the glasses in front of Gabe and sat back in his seat with a sigh saying mildly, “If I fall asleep while making copies tomorrow I’m going to kill you, Gabe.”

 

Gabriel just smiled, humming along to the opening music of _The Empire Strikes Back_.

 

**\--**

 

By the time that the Rebel Alliance was evacuating Hoth, Sam was fast asleep in the chair, his head leaning back and his neck cricked at an odd angle.  He was snoring softly and Dean couldn’t help remembering when Sam was younger and would fall asleep waiting up for their Dad to come back from wherever he was.  Dean would move him to bed and in the morning would tell Sam that Dad had come back and moved him to bed without waking him, had wished them good night and had left again, or had gone to sleep in his own bed if it was a night their Dad slept in the motel with them.  That lie only worked on Sam until he was 7 or 8, Dean knew from the look he would have when he woke up and found himself in bed instead of in the chair.  Sam never said anything though, and Dean kept up the lie until he was too large to move without waking him.

 

Dean caught Gabriel glancing over at the sleeping Sam every once in awhile, a small smile shadowing his face.  The rest of Gabe’s attention was devoted to watching Luke learn how to control The Force and laughing softly at Han and Leia throwing insults at one another while munching down brownie after brownie.

 

Sometime around the point that Han and Leia were dealing with the mynocks, Cas had ended up falling asleep sitting up as well.  When Cas snorted lightly and shifted in his sleep uncomfortably, Gabe glanced over at Cas then leaned around him to glare at Dean, “Psssst, Dean,” Gabe half whispered, “put your arm around my brother!”

 

Dean started and gave Gabriel his best, _I’m sorry, what the fuck are you talking about_ look.  Gabe sighed and said, “He’s had a long couple of days and if he falls asleep sitting up like that he’ll be sore in the morning, and I’ll never hear the end of it.  Just let him sleep against you for a little while, please?”

 

“Can’t we just _not watch_ the movie and wake them both up?  Or, you know, let him lean against you?” Dean asked, rolling his eyes.

 

“Um, no, this is the best part,” Gabriel returned the eye roll, “and I’m too short, it doesn’t work.  Figured that out last night when he was too drunk to stand and I was trying to get him in the car.”

 

Dean sighed and yawned, saying, “Fine, but put a pillow under Sam’s head for me.”

 

Gabe nodded and stood up, pillow from the couch in hand.  As he did that Dean gingerly shifted Cas until his head was resting on Dean’s shoulder.  Cas seemed to appreciate the change in position and he shifted to lean more fully against Dean’s side, sighing once.  Gabriel returned to the couch, Sam looking much more comfortable with the pillow and a blanket that Gabe had thrown over him.

 

Dean held himself upright, arm barely touching Cas’s shoulders and trying his best not to inhale Cas’s scent too deeply.  After a short while his back grew stiff and his arm was starting to hurt from the effort.  With a small shake of his head at his girliness he thought, _fuck it_ , sitting back against the couch and letting his arm fall on Cas’s shoulders.  As he shifted back Cas leaned further into him, his head slipping so that his hair tickled the underside of Dean’s jaw and his body slumping into Dean’s side, well and truly asleep.

 

Dean decided to give up fully and stopped trying to breathe shallowly.  The instant he took a full breath Cas’s scent flooded his lungs and he cursed at himself.  There was the smell of cinnamon and warmth and a touch of something like a storm and Dean wanted to bury his head into Cas’s soft hair and kiss the top of his head.  He knew better and kept himself sitting mostly upright, though he marveled at how well they fit together.  He had expected his arm or shoulder to go numb but he was surprisingly comfortable.  He let himself relax fully, though stopped himself short of snuggling into Cas’s warmth, Dean Winchester did NOT snuggle.  Gabriel leaned around Cas and mouthed _thanks_ to Dean, who nodded carefully, trying to look calm and unaffected by Cas’s nearness and smell and how warm Dean was with the man pressed against him.  He trained his eyes back on the TV and watched the rest of the movie, comfortable and happy.

 

**\--**

 

When the movie finished with Luke and Leia looking out at the stars, Dean and Gabe shared that ‘older brother’ look and moved to wake up Cas and Sam.  With a small shake of Dean’s shoulder Cas started awake, stared around blearily for a moment then sat bolt upright.

 

“I apologize Dean, I did not realize how tired I was,” he said stiffly, glancing over at Gabriel, who was tickling Sam’s nose with a feather he had pulled from the pillow and was carefully watching Sam’s face twitch.

 

“‘S not a problem.  Figured you needed the sleep,” Dean stood and stretched, “glad I don’t have to get up early, but I’ll see you at 10 tomorrow, yeah?” at Cas’s nod Dean turned to Gabriel and said, “Gabriel, just wake him up.  I want to get you guys out of here so I can get some sleep.”

 

Gabriel gave Dean a pout but dropped the feather and shook Sam, who awoke with a snort and a bleary, “What?”

 

“Come on, giant man, your brother wants us to leave so he can get his beauty sleep.”

 

Sam scratched at his face, and mumbled, “Yeah, okay, just give me a few minutes,” then he leaned back and closed his eyes.

 

Dean grunted, “Leave him for a bit, come help me pack up the pizza.”

 

They moved quickly to divide the pizza and brownies and clean up the dishes.  Dean was wiping down the counters one last time and Cas was packing the tupperware into grocery bags when Sam stumbled into the kitchen and slumped into a kitchen chair.

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “When he gets tired like this there’s no helping it, I’ll make up the sleeper, I don’t want him driving home like this, you guys can head out if you want.”

 

Gabriel glanced at Sam then said, “I’ll pack up the car, Cas you want to help Dean with the sofa then meet me in the car?” Before Dean could protest Cas nodded and walked into the living room, while Gabriel, who had already gathered everything and slipped into his shoes, let the back door bang shut behind him, causing Sam to snort but not wake.

 

Dean was left standing in an empty kitchen.  He rolled his eyes and said to the sleeping Sam, “Always obvious, that one, don’t know how you miss it” then shrugged and joined Cas, who was stacking couch cushions to the side.  He started helping with a quiet, “Thanks.”

 

They managed to get the pullout made up quickly then Dean poked Sam in the side until he woke up enough to walk clumsily to the bed and collapse on it, legs sticking over the edge of the too-short mattress.  Dean sighed, and after a moment of watching his brother try to get comfortable he said, without turning to face Cas, “Thanks, again.  I think I just need to get a bed in one of the other bedrooms.  Sam has enough late nights here and he always wakes up complaining when he sleeps on the pullout.”

 

Cas hummed then asked, “Why _do_ you have a house with two extra bedrooms?”

 

Before Dean could stop himself he said, “This was my parent’s house.  I spent the first few years of my life here, Sam the first few months.  It’s more space than I need but it’s paid off,” realizing what he said he added, turning to Cas to gauge his reaction, “It’s a long story, really.”

 

Cas nodded, expression neutral, “Perhaps you can tell it to me sometime,” Cas stretched, reaching to the ceiling, and Dean’s eyes flicked to the line of stomach and hipbone that was revealed as his shirt rode up then quickly away.  Cas had really nice hips.

 

“I need to go get a charger for his phone.  He likes to wake up at some hour that I don’t believe actually exists so he can go for a run, and I don’t want him to complain if his phone dies and his alarm doesn’t go off,” he found his eyes drifting back to Cas, who was watching him sleepily.

 

“I’ll head out then, I’ll see you tomorrow,” but Cas made no move to leave, instead he stepped forward into Dean’s space and brought his hand up to rest on Dean’s jaw.  He said, “Tonight was fun, Dean, thank you.” his hand slid around to the back of Dean’s neck to rest in the soft hair at the back of his head.  He tugged gently, and brought their mouths together in a soft kiss.  There was none of the charged, superheated sex from earlier that night.  It was a sleepy, slow kiss.  One that Dean could get used to waking up to.

 

Cas broke the kiss and stepped back, a small smile on his face and said, “Have a nice night, Dean,” before stepping around him and walking out the door to join Gabe in the car.

  
Dean just stood there, realizing how screwed he was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am trying to speed everything up a little but I'm not good at that. I tend to ramble and give backstories. I'm sorry =/
> 
> Num nums are from here: http://fuckingrecipes.tumblr.com/post/68944741188/salted-caramel-brownies (it was posted right after the season 9 mid-season finale). I dunno if anyone actually wants the recipes but most of them are pretty yummy (at least when I tried them).
> 
> Holidays are rough but I hope everyone had a lovely winter! Next chapter is almost completed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost 1 in the morning and I'm very tired. Sorry for any grammar issues I may have missed!

Dean woke to the sound of his drapes being pulled back and light filtering through his eyelids.  He blearily opened one eye to see Sam standing there, holding a styrofoam cup that smelled of coffee.  He closed his eye again and buried his face into the pillow, hiding from the light.

  


“Morning Sunshine!” He could hear the grin in Sam’s voice.

  


Dean rolled away from Sam with a groan of, “Fuc’ off.”

  


Sam strode around to the other side of the bed to stand over Dean, “Dean, come on, I’ve been up for 2 hours already, lazyass.  I even brought you coffee because I’m an awesome goddamn brother.”

  


When Dean refused to move Sam flicked him on the forehead and Dean sat up and let out an exclaimed, “Ow, the fuck is wrong with you!” while taking a half-hearted swipe at Sam.

  


Sam skipped back a few steps, grin widening, “Time to get up Dean, we need to talk,” Sam held the coffee cup in front of Dean’s face, who grabbed it with a glare at his brother.  Sam continued, “Meet me downstairs when you’re… you know… decent” waving his hand in Dean’s direction.

  


Dean rolled his eyes but took a sip of the coffee as Sam walked back out of the bedroom.  He heard Sam jog down the stairs, whistling, and shook his head at the amount of energy his brother somehow contained.  Dean sat in bed for a few more minutes.  He hadn’t slept very well the night before, memories from the day and night flashing through his head then quickly away.  A jumbled mix of good moments and bad.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  He wasn’t going to lie to himself; he was attracted to Cas, more than he had been to anyone else in a long time.  And Cas seemed to be attracted to him as well.  

  


He also wasn’t going to kid himself, though.  Cas was far too good for him.  And eventually Cas would realize that.  He sighed and sipped his coffee again, slipping out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for what he was sure was going to be a very long day.

  
  


**\--**

  
  


As he walked down the stairs he could hear Sam humming and banging around in the kitchen. He could also smell frying bacon, which immediately made him suspicious.  Sam never made him anything unhealthy unless he was planning an ambush.  He had an idea of what Sam was going to ask him about and he was hoping that he might be able to hold Sam off for a little while longer by just pretending he didn’t notice anything.

  


As he pushed into the kitchen he said, “Bacon, awesome”.  He plopped what was left of his coffee on the table and sat, yawning loudly and scrubbing his hand over his face.  Sam loaded a plate with bacon, scrambled eggs and toast and stuck it in front of Dean, then turned back to the stove, gathering some cut up vegetables and a carton of egg white mix.

  


Dean narrowed his eyes, “How did those get into my house?”

  


Sam barked out a laugh, “I picked it up while on my run, knew I wouldn’t find anything healthy in your fridge.”

  


Dean shook his head at his brother but dug into the food in front of him.  Despite the fact that Sam was a health nut he could make a decent artery-clogging breakfast.  Sam spent a few more minutes making his egg white omelet, then took a seat next to Dean and started eating.

  


Dean finished his breakfast and sat back with a sigh, “That was good, thank you.”

  


Sam nodded, eating his own eggs and glancing at Dean every once in awhile.  Dean sighed again, tired of Sam eyeing him, then stood up, moving to the sink to wash his plate and Sam’s cooking mess.  He heard Sam chewing slowly and felt a prickle on the back of his neck, knowing that his brother was staring at him.

  


“So, Dean” Sam said, voice light, “You and Cas were pretty cozy last night.”

  


Dean continued to clean the skillet and plate in silence.  He heard Sam exhale and stand up to bring his plate to the sink, “Look, Dean, I think it’s good.  Cas seems like a good guy and I don’t think I’ve seen you look at someone like that in a long time, maybe since Cassie,” Dean felt his back stiffen, and Sam’s voice softened, “He looks at you in a similar way, Dean, I don’t think this is one sided.”

  


Dean kept silent, not looking at Sam.  Sam let out a harsh breath, “Fine, I won’t mention it again.  Only,” he hesitated for a moment, “give this a chance.”

  


Dean rolled his eyes and said, holding up a soapy hand, “No chickflick moments, Sam.”

  


Sam snorted and said, “Yeah, yeah,” then asked about the car that Bobby was bringing back from the auction.  The conversation continued from there and, sure enough, He didn’t ask Dean about Cas again.  The brothers spent the rest of the morning relaxing and talking.

  


When the time came for Dean to leave to meet Cas, Sam gathered what was left of the vegetables and egg whites, told Dean that he would meet them at the University, gave a salute and left.  Dean got his old leather jacket on, the familiar weight and smell making him feel like he could handle this day.  He locked up and walked to Baby, feeling a little steadier with himself.

  
  


**\--**

  
  


Cas was waiting by the curb when Dean pulled up.  He was in a worn, grey t-shirt, his too-large trenchcoat and threadbare jeans that looked comfortable and clung to the strong muscles in his thighs.  He was also sitting on a pile of boxes and surrounded by even more boxes and Dean almost groaned.  If Cas was anything like Sam most of those boxes probably contained books.  Very heavy books.  He saw Cas throw back his head in a laugh and realized with chagrin that Cas was laughing at the look on his face.  

  


He smiled and stepped out of the car saying, “So, we have some moving to do, huh?” Cas snorted, eyes sparkling with laughter and a grin on his face.

  


“We do indeed.  I should have warned you.”

  


Dean shrugged at that, “No problem, let’s get moving.”

  


They packed up the Impala first, then started packing Cas’s car.  They managed to just squeeze all the boxes into both cars and Cas disappeared inside the house to grab the information on his office, his keys and various paperwork.  While Cas was inside Dean called Sam to let him know that they were on the way and they agreed to meet in front of the religion offices.

  


Cas walked up to Dean as he finished his conversation with Sam.  He snapped his phone shut and turned to Cas, “Ready to go?  Sam will meet us there and help us unpack the cars then we can head to a lunch place that Sam said is pretty good, though that probably means that there’s bean sprouts on everything or something like that.”

  


Cas grinned, “Sounds good, I’ll be glad to get there and get everything settled so I can start getting ready for my classes.  Two weeks is not a lot of time.”

  


“They only gave you two weeks?” Dean asked, shrugging into his jacket as he cooled down again.

  


Cas hummed, “They gave me longer than that, I was hired at the start of summer.  I just had a few things I needed to work out before moving.”

  


“Ah, well, we should be able to get you mostly moved in by today,” he twitched his shoulders, settling the jacket, “and I’m sure Sam can help you get everything figured out if you need it.”

  


Cas smiled at him warmly, “I’m not worried,” he was about to continue when Dean’s phone went off.   _I Want Candy_ , Gabriel’s ringtone.  Sam had thought it was _hilarious_ and Dean hadn’t been able to figure out how to change it.  He held Cas’s gaze for a moment and Cas lifted one eyebrow in amusement.  Dean rolled his eyes,  “This is your brother.  I can tell from the ringer, he’s probably calling to find out where he should meet us.  I should answer this,” Cas nodded and turned to walk towards his car.

  


“Gabriel?”

  


“Yeah.  Could you please tell my brother that he needs to keep his cellphone on him and **on**?”

  


Dean sighed, “What’s up?”

  


Gabriel sounded cheerful, “What’s the plan?  When should I meet you two dorks and the lovely tall man?”

  


“I’m sorry, _I’m_ a dork and Mr. I-love-my-books-more-than-life-itself is a _lovely man_?”

  


“Mmmmm, a lovely _tall_ man, indeed he is.  So, plans?”

  


Dean found his eyes drifting to Castiel, who was leaning against the driver side door of his car, eyes on Dean.  Dean did not look away, instead saying into the phone, “We should be over at the college soon, Sam is meeting us there, helping us unpack the cars, then lunch, then back to unpacking.  You joining us?”

  


“I was planning on it, but I was kind of hoping to show up a little too late for the unpacking part, I have work after all.”

  


Dean shook his head in exasperation and Cas smiled broadly, knowing his brother well enough to understand that he was probably being a pain in the butt.  Even from across the street Dean could see Cas’s eyes shining brightly.

  


“Just get over there now, I’m sure Sam will appreciate the help, Gabe.”

  


Dean heard a sigh over the line then, “I suppose it’ll give me a chance to see his arms up close.”

  


Dean gagged, “Gabriel, please, I don’t want to hear that shit about my brother.  Just meet us over at the college, religion offices.”

  


“Yup, see you there.” Dean grunted goodbye then snapped his phone shut, walking over to Cas.

  


“Ready to go?” Cas asked.

  


“Yup, you know where you’re going, right?  I’ll just follow you,” Dean threw his keys in the air then caught them, twirling them around his finger.  Cas nodded once and Dean turned, forcing himself to look away from the blue.

  
  


**\--**

  
  


The drive was quick and Dean soon found himself parking Baby in between two silly little hybrid things, which he refused to use the term ‘car’ to describe.  Cas found a spot a few cars in front of him and was already out of his car and standing next to Baby while Dean parked carefully, making sure to leave enough space so that even someone driving a _hybrid_ could easily get out without scratching Baby.

  


He stepped out of his car and looked around for Sam or Gabe.  He started when Cas stepped directly in front of him, “Dean, I would like to thank you for all your help.  When are you free this week?  I would like to take you out.”

  


Dean’s heart thudded once but he kept his voice light, joking, “Are you asking me out, Castiel?”

  


“Well, I would like to thank you for helping me but, yes, I am asking you out.”

  


“Ah, well,” Dean wasn’t sure what to say, he ran a hand through his hair, trying to come up with something, “look, Cas, I haven’t… I haven’t been on a date in a while,” not an actual one at least, “I really don’t have a lot of free time.”  What would a date with Cas even be like?  He didn’t even know where they would go, some fancy place where he couldn’t pronounce half the things on the menu most likely.  What would they talk about? He could feel his heart stutter in his chest.  One thing kept going through his mind, though, _he’s too good for you, he’ll figure it out soon, he’ll break you_.

  


_I Want Candy_ blared, making Dean jump.  He held Cas’s eyes a moment longer.  Cas didn’t look angry, or even disappointed.  He tilted his head to the side.  Dean gave him an apologetic smile, “Um, sorry Cas.  He’ll just keep calling if I don’t answer.”

  


Cas nodded and stepped back a few paces.  Dean pulled his phone out and opened it, “What?” he asked, perhaps a little more tersely than he should have.

  


“Wow, someone had some pissy-flakes this morning, I just wanted to figure out where you guys are.”

  


Dean sighed, “Sorry, Gabe, we’re here.  Parking lot in front of the religion offices.”

  


“Okay, Dean-o, put on your non-grumpy face, we’ll be there soon!” Dean shook his head and snapped his phone shut.

  


He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to come up with _something_ to say to Cas.  He opened his eyes and saw Cas looking at him with a soft smile.  He stepped forward, “Sorry, Cas, Gabe and Sam are on their way.  Um, I think that would be nice.  The date, I mean.  Here,” he fumbled but held his phone out to Cas, “give me your number and we’ll figure something out.” It would give him a little while to figure out just what the hell he had gotten himself into, at least.  Cas took the phone and started typing in numbers, his brow wrinkling slightly as he concentrated.  Dean refused to find that cute.  No, it was not in the least bit cute.  Not at all.

  


Cas handed the phone back just as Gabriel and Sam came around a corner, Dean jerked his chin towards them, “There’s Sam and Gabe, sooner we get this done, sooner we can have lunch,” he winked at Cas and flashed a grin, hoping Cas couldn’t hear his heart thundering in his chest.

  
  


**\--**

  
  


As the four of them unpacked the cars and moved boxes into Cas’s office, Dean found himself gravitating toward Cas, watching muscles bunch under his clothes and catching an occasional flash of skin as he reached for something.  He wasn’t entirely sure why he was even considering going on a date with Cas.  But the thought kept flashing into his head.  Soft light and smiles and conversation.  And a good night kiss.  Or maybe more than a good night kiss.

  


They got all the boxes in the office and organized into where they were going to go according to the neat writing on the outside of the box.  It was quick work, despite Dean’s distraction.  As soon as they were finished moving boxes around Gabe glanced at his watch, clapped his hands and said “Lunch?”

  


It was noon by the time they made it to the little cafe that was just down the street, and it was bustling with the lunch crowd.  It was close enough to the school that students that were already at the university, mostly the grad students who almost never left for the summer, were there, along with white-collar workers from the nearby offices.  Dean was correct about the cafe, many of the sandwiches included bean sprouts, but he did manage to find a turkey sandwich that didn’t have any weird ingredients.  He also ordered a slice of apple pie, grinning when he saw the sugar shining on the crust.

  


The four of them managed to snag a table as a group of women left.  When the women walked by a brunette winked at Dean, flashing him a cocky grin.  She looked familiar and Dean smiled back, trying to remember why he recognized her, but his attention was grabbed by Castiel’s deep laugh as Sam said something.  Lunch was quick, with the four of them chatting easily and Sam teasing him lightly about his lust for pie.

  


“Hey, don’t you say anything about pie,” Dean said jokingly, sitting back and rubbing his stomach, which was happily full.

  


“What’s you favorite pie?” Castiel asked, head tilted as Sam and Gabe stood up to clear the table.

  


“Matters who’s making it.  Pecan when my friend, Benny, makes it, apple is my regular fallback.  They have decent pie here.  My mom used to make this apple pie to die for.” Dean saw Sam’s back stiffen when he mentioned their mom, but Cas didn’t seem to notice.

  


“I prefer chocolate, myself,” said Gabriel with a grin.

  


“No one asked you Gabe,” said Sam, grinning back at him, shoulders relaxing.

  


They bantered back and forth as Cas and Dean finished clearing their dishes and they all walked out of the cafe together.  Once they were outside Gabe glanced at his watch.

  


“Alright guys, I gotta get back to work, Cas, you wanna meet at The Roadhouse for dinner tonight?  My back is sore and I’m not going to want to cook dinner.”

  


At Cas’s nod Gabe turned to Sam, and gave him a smile, “See you later Sam, you can join us for dinner if you want,” then he turned and started walking down the sidewalk with a spring in his step.

  


“Bye jerkwad!” Dean called.

  


Gabe yelled over his shoulder, with a little wave, “Love you too, Dean-o!”

  


Dean shook his head then turned to Sam and Cas, “We still got some unpacking to do, shall we?”

  


**\--**

  


After an hour of work Sam wandered off to attend a faculty meeting at the Law school and Dean was left alone with Castiel.  He thought it would be uncomfortable, but he found that they fell into an easy pace, Dean unpacking the multitude of books and Castiel placing them on the various shelves.  After a few minutes Dean realized something.

  


“Did you seriously pack the books in order?”

  


Cas flushed, “Yes, I, um, find it easier to just pack them in order then unpack them the same way, makes it easier in the end.”

  


Dean huffed a laugh, “Awesome.  You gotta teach Sam that trick.”

  


Cas gave a gentle smile and continued, humming along to the classical music he had turned on.  Dean would have preferred classical rock but somehow the gentle strings fitted Cas.  It was easy and mindless work, lulling Dean until he was only partly paying attention to what was happening.  He felt like this was something he could do.  That they could be folding laundry, or cleaning the dishes after a meal or something else ridiculously domestic.  Maybe he could even get Cas to hum along to some classic Zep.

  


And maybe, after they were finished matching socks or once all the dishes were put away, he could push Cas up against the nearest wall and tease him until he was begging for release.  He could work his way down Cas’s body, exploring the muscles and tasting the skin that he had been catching glimpses of all day.  Then take Cas into his mouth and help him find that release.  Or maybe he could tease Cas until he couldn’t take it anymore and Cas pushed _him_ over the couch.  Then they would go upstairs to their bed and start all over again.

  


He didn’t even think about the fact that as he was imagining this he was seeing them in his house, his kitchen, his bedroom.

  


Cas must have been in his own world as well because he jumped when someone knocked on the frame of the open door.  “Hullo, you’re Castiel Novak, yes?” the voice was rich and carried a British accent.  Cas looked confused but nodded.

  


“Ah! Wonderful!  I’ve been keeping an eye out for you from the moment I heard the university had gotten you.”  The man caught sight of Dean, “Oh, and you’re Dean Winchester” now it was Dean’s turn to feel confused.  He gave the man a closer look.  Fitted jeans, a v-neck shirt that plunged well beyond the point of modesty, especially for an office, sandy hair and a craggy face that was none-the-less handsome.  He had no idea who the man was and his face must have showed it because the man threw his head back and barked out a laugh, “You worked on my car, maybe you’ll remember her?  1967 Mustang.  You did some body and engine work.  Did a good job too.  I’ve got some other cars I’ve been meaning to bring in for you to have a look.”

  


An image flashed through Dean’s mind, “Black, with racing stripes?  Nice machine.  You’ve got the same last name as some singer lady.  I remember Ash playing a song non-stop while we were working on it, laughing his ass off the entire time.   _The Heart Goes On_ or something.”

  


The man’s face contorted, “Yes, but I’m not related to that shite singer, Balthazar Dion,” he held his hand out, first to Cas whose face had cleared into an easy smile, then to Dean, who returned the warm handshake while looking back and forth between Castiel and Balthazar.

  


Balthazar flashed a blinding smile at Cas, “So Castiel, I saw you give that paper at the last IRS meeting.”

  


Cas laughed softly, “I apologize for that, then.  I was asked to give that paper last minute when Dr. Chappell had a family matter and couldn’t attend.  I don’t think it was my best work.  I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing you give a paper but your sacred vs. secular in ancient spaces work is very interesting.”

  


Balthazar waved a hand, “If that paper was last minute then I’m glad I’m not competing for tenure against you.”

  


Cas smiled lightly, “I believe I’m just as glad to not be competing against you.”

  


Dean continued looking back and forth between the two, heart sinking.  He was confused about something, though, “You gave a paper for the IRS, Cas?  Were they auditing you or something?”

  


Cas turned to Dean with a smile, “International Religious Studies meeting.  It’s a yearly meeting that gives scholars in religious studies a chance to present their work to their peers.”

  


Balthazar laughed, “Gives those of us who are younger than 70 a chance to find some good hook-ups too,” he winked at Cas then asked, “Have you had a tour yet?  I mean besides the official one they gave when they interviewed you, specifically designed to dazzle you into saying yes to our little university.”

  


Cas shook his head, “No, I wanted to get unpacked first.”

  


“How about I take you for a little tour, then.  I’m sure Mr. Winchester wouldn’t mind unpacking a bit while you’re gone.  And I promise not to keep you too long.” Dean’s heart sank even further as Cas hesitated, obviously wanting to go.

  


Dean forced a smile, “Go ahead, Cas.  I don’t mind.”

  


Cas turned to him, “Are you sure, Dean?  You’ve done so much already, but I would really like to get more acquainted with the classrooms and university layout.”

  


Dean waved a hand in the air, “Yeah Cas, it’s not problem.  I just gotta be out of here by 5:30 so I can get to my shift.”

  


Cas hesitated another moment, studying Dean’s face then reached out and touched his shoulder lightly, “Thank you, Dean.  If you’re not sure where something goes just leave it off to the side and I’ll take care of it.  We should be back shortly.”

  


Dean nodded, pretty sure he was keeping the look of dismay off his face.  Balthazar was perfect for Cas.  Charming, good-looking, smart, and obviously interested.  Dean knew he didn’t stand a chance.  He watched as they walked down the hall, Balthazar gesturing at a few doors and likely gossiping about the people who worked behind them as Cas looked on in gentle amusement.

  


Dean moved to the radio with a sigh and turned it to the classic rock station.  If he was going to be alone at least he could listen to some good music.   Singing quietly along to Metallic he got to work on the next box, following Cas’s well-organized method and placing books on shelves.

  
  


**\--**

  
  


Dean had all the boxes of books unpacked and in what he assumed was the correct order and was working on a small box of office supplies and personal items when Cas rushed into the office looking slightly disheveled.

  


“Dean, I am _so_ sorry.  Balthazar took me on a wonderful tour but kept me longer than I expected.  Oh,” Cas stopped short and looked around, “wow.  Um, thanks.  I should be able to handle that box.”

  


Dean smiled, standing up and running a hand through his hair, “No problem, man.  Do you know everything you need to now?” _like when Balthazar is free for dinner?_ But that was unkind and Dean didn’t say it.

  


Cas nodded, “Yes, though I didn’t really learn anything new.  He mostly took me to the same places as the original tour when I interviewed.  I wanted a chance to get an idea of the tenure process here, Balthazar was just granted tenure and sometimes a little advance knowledge and friendly advice is useful.”

  


Dean knew that tenure was stressful, he’d heard Sam talk about it when he’d first started, already worried about what it would be like, “Hopefully he’ll have some good advice,” he caught the opening guitar of Zep’s _Ramble On_ and laughed, “Sorry, man, I changed your radio, I can change it back.”

  


He took a step towards the radio and suddenly Cas was there, a soft look in his eyes.  He reached up and rested his hand on Dean’s shoulder, “Thank you Dean, for everything,” Then he kissed Dean, softly.  It was so sweet, so achingly familiar, as though it was completely normal, that Dean was taken aback.  This time he was the one that didn’t respond to the kiss.  Cas didn’t seem to mind though; he settled back onto his heels with a small smile then leaned up again to place a soft kiss at the corner of Dean’s mouth.

  


Robert Plant sang, “For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it’s headed my way” and _JustKissHimYouIdiot!_ screamed through Dean’s mind.  He placed suddenly steady hands on Cas’s hips and a smile bloomed on Cas’s face, his blue eyes lighting up.  Dean leaned in and their lips met gently.  Cas tasted pleasantly of coffee and chocolate and Dean couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, thinking that perhaps Cas was a little more like Gabe than he cared to admit.  Cas broke it and leaned back, glancing at Dean’s smile then letting out a warm laugh and diving forward to nuzzle at Dean’s jawline.  A scrape of teeth over Dean’s stubble had the smile replaced with a gasp and Dean tilted his head to give Cas more access.

  


Dean’s hands did not remain still.  He snuck both of them underneath Cas’s shirt to rest on the hipbones he had been admiring all day.  Cas’s skin was smooth and fever warm and Dean switched between massaging and tickling the soft skin under his hands.  His hand hit a particularly sensitive spot and Cas groaned Dean’s name lowly.  One of Cas’s hands snuck into Dean’s hair and tugged gently to bring Dean’s mouth to meet his and Dean gladly followed, sneaking his tongue out to tease Cas’s lips.

  


A hand palmed his ass and he smiled into the kiss again, his own hand slipping a little further up Cas’s shirt to tickle at his spine and his head dipping to kiss at his neck.  Cas squeezed his ass in response.  Dean felt an odd tingling on his buttcheek, just under Cas’s hand, and he wondered just what Cas was doing.

  


Cas spoke breathlessly, Dean still teasing his neck, “Dean, ah, your um, ass is vibrating.  I think, oh, I think it’s your phone.”

  


Dean groaned and pulled his lips away from the sweetness of Cas’s skin.  His phone was indeed ringing.  It was the opening chords to Zep’s _Traveling Riverside Blues_ , the ringer for an unknown number, “No one I know, probably someone wanting money,” his voice was just as wrecked as Cas’s.  He reached back and removed his phone, stopping the ringing and placing it on the desk behind him without looking at what he was doing.  He then returned to Cas’s neck, slowly working up to his ear.  Cas chuckled, gripped Dean’s butt in both hands this time and pulled Dean toward him.

  


_An ass man_ Dean thought.  Then all thoughts fled from his mind when his hardness, encased in his rough jeans, bumped against Cas’s own.  A ragged groan tore from his throat and he felt Cas’s hands tighten to hold him close.  Dean slid a hand to the nape of Cas’s neck, pulling the neck of his t-shirt down to reveal the sharp line of his collarbone.  He mouthed at it, tasting the saltiness of Cas’s skin mixed with the unique flavor that reminded Dean of open spaces.  He ground against Cas, pleasure tingling through his body.  Cas moved right back, almost _crushing_ Dean against him.

  


When the phone rang for the second time it was more noticeable, vibrating loudly against the wood of the desk.  Dean let out a curse, body thrumming, “Just, just one minute.”

  


He pulled away from Cas, who was grinning, pupils so wide there was only a thin line of brilliant blue surrounding them.  Dean reached behind him and grabbed his phone blindly, flipping it open as he brought it to his ear, “Hello.”  He knew his voice came out far rougher than normal but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  He was expecting to yell at whoever was on the other end.

  


A feminine voice that was familiar but which Dean couldn’t place came over the line, “Dean?  Dean, honey, is that you?”

  


He cleared his throat, confused, “This is Dean Winchester.”

  


“Oh thank goodness, it’s Missouri Moseley.  My car has gone and died on me.  I called Bobby’s but the message said to call you.  I’m sorry to bother you but I’m kind of in a bind.”

  


Cas was watching him, eyes calmer now.  He held the phone away from his face and swore quietly, “Of course Miss Moseley.  Where are you?”

  


She rattled off a mile marker on a rather deserted county road.  Cas had taken a few shuffling steps back but hadn’t removed his hands from Dean’s ass, “Okay Miss Moseley, I shouldn’t be long.  Just stay with your car.”

  


He snapped his phone shut with a muttered “God fucking damn it”.

  


Cas stared at him and Dean dropped his forehead against Cas’s then said, “I’m sorry Cas, I’ve gotta go.”

  


Cas kissed him lightly, “I figured.”

  


They stood like that for a moment, foreheads pressed together, Cas’s hands still on Dean’s butt, letting their bodies calm down.  Cas kissed him lightly once more, sighed and stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides.

  


“I suppose I’ll see you tonight, then.  I have Sam’s number, so I’ll give him a call once I finish unpacking the box and get a proper tour,” Dean’s mind flashed back to Balthazar, helping his body to cool down even more, “but, seriously Dean, thank you.  I truly appreciate it.”

  


Dean nodded once, gathered his things, settling his coat across his shoulders.  Journey’s _Wheel in the Sky_ came on over the radio as he kissed Cas once, hard, said his goodbyes and left.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am horrible at this whole updating thing. This was sitting incomplete for awhile and I kept fitfully working on it. Sorry! I have all the chapters planned out and outlines made up for them, and even parts of them written out. But I am incredibly busy. I also struggle with my writing because I want it to be perfect and I know it's not (nor can it ever be).
> 
> 2 things: I like hybrids and I don't mind Celine Dion. Also, I have a really hard time writing anything remotely dirty. 
> 
>  
> 
> I work for a university. Tenure is horrible, stressful, and scary. It's also a shit ton of work. You can also compete against others for tenure. It's often good for people who are tenure-track (meaning they are planning on applying for tenure in the near future) to make friends with people who are already tenured for a few reasons. That person can give them advice, especially if they've recently been through tenure, and it's already tenured faculty who vote on whether to grant that person tenure or not. At least that's how it works at my school. If you know a professor who's going through tenure please be extra nice to them!


	11. Chapter 11

The entire drive from the school to Bobby’s to pick up the tow truck, just in case, then from Bobby’s to mile marker 3 on county road 25, Dean was cursing at himself.  He wasn’t some horny teenager who couldn’t keep it in his pants.  Yet he couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself when Cas was around.  And to his chagrin, Cas seemed to encourage all of it.  

 

Almost all of his relationships in the past had been shallow things.  Each party knowing that it was just for fun.  They both enjoyed the physical part of the relationship and needed nothing more from each other.  Cassie had been different.  He had found himself talking to her.  After sex he would lay with her and the words would somehow fall from him.  She had broken it off when she was offered a job, a good one, working for a newspaper.  She asked him to go with her.  Asked him to join her in a far away city.  He had said no, not wanting to leave Jo and Ellen or Bobby.  Or that’s what he told himself.

 

He knew, though, that he was scared.  Scared of how far he let her in.  They had fought, and he couldn’t blame her for leaving.  He wasn’t worth her staying in a town she never truly fit into.  Knowing that she would leave him eventually, anyway, and he would rather be in a place he knew, with people he knew, when it happened.

 

It felt similar with Cas already and that was terrifying him.  He saw Missouri’s little Honda pulled off to the side of the road and he slowed, pulling over in front of her car, banishing thoughts of Cas from his head as he did so.  He didn’t believe in all the psychic stuff, of course.  His father, though, had gone to Missouri when he got into his deepest funks or when he was drunk out of his mind.  Wanting to talk with Mary, wanting help, wanting someone to tell him Mary’s death wasn’t his fault, maybe.  Or if it was, that Mary forgave him.  Missouri had never taken his money, or at least Dean was pretty sure she hadn’t.  She’d let him talk it out, sobered him up with coffee, or called Ellen or Dean, once Dean was old enough, to come pick John up if he was really bad.  Often, when Dean would come to pick up his dad she would somehow have warm cookies just coming out of the oven.  

 

He appreciated what she did for his Dad, so he never gave her trouble beyond light teasing.  She stepped out of her car as he jumped down from the truck.  He walked toward her and she smiled, “Dean, thank you.  I realize Bobby’s is closed but my car started making this awful noise and it just kept getting worse.  I just didn’t feel safe driving it.”

 

He gave her a quick, professional, smile, “Not a problem, Miss Moseley.  I’ll take a look at it and I can always get you one of our loaners for a few days if I can’t take care of it now.”

 

She nodded and stepped back, giving him space.  He popped the car’s hood, fishing his flashlight from his back pocket, and looked for anything obvious, checking the oil and various caps.  As he poked around he jokingly asked, “How did you not _know_ this was going to happen?”

 

She smacked him on the back of the head and he let out a startled “ow!” ducking his head away before turning to look at her.  She had her finger in his face as she said, “That’s not how it works and you know it, boy.  You want someone to tell you the future go see some magician.  I can read people and places, not cars and NOT the future.  Now I am sorry that I interrupted your _happy time_ ” she put particular emphasis on it and he felt a flush creeping up his neck, “but that is no excuse to be rude.”

 

“Sorry Miss Moseley,” he wasn’t quite sure what to say beyond that and he rubbed at the back of his neck.  She didn’t seem to be truly angry though.

 

“Humph,” she crossed her arms, “You’ve got a good one there.  I’d have to meet him, of course, but he doesn’t feel like a bad sort,” she waved a dismissive hand in the air, “doesn’t matter, though.  Find anything yet?”

 

Dean huffed a breath.  She had made a lucky guess, “I can’t see anything wrong.  Can I have your keys?”

 

She handed them over and stepped back again.  He started the car, hearing something rattle and whine as the engine turned over.  The car shook slightly as it idled and he sighed, glancing at his watch.

 

He killed the engine, stepping out of the car and walking up to Missouri, who was standing and staring into the distance.  “It sounds like it may be your timing belt.  I can’t tell for sure until I get it into the shop.  I wouldn’t drive it, though, I’ll give you one of our loaners.  If your timing belt snaps it can do a decent amount of damage.”

 

She laughed, kind face amused, “I actually probably should have known this was coming.  I’m pretty sure the last time you changed the oil you told me the timing belt needed to be changed.  Don’t even need to be psychic.”

 

He smiled and set to work getting the car hooked up to the tow truck.  It wasn’t long before they were back at Bobby’s, Dean promising to look at the car first thing tomorrow and Missouri driving away in one of Bobby’s loaners.  He had just enough time to go home, take a quick shower, and get to The Roadhouse for his shift.

 

**\--**

 

The Roadhouse was still relatively quiet when Dean got in.  Monday nights tended to be on the quieter side in general, mostly people in for dinner and some regulars talking over their beers.  Dean was happy to see Ellen, a little pale but standing, and gave her a salute as he tied on his apron.

 

Ellen nodded, “Dean.  I heard that my kid got you into some trouble.  You good?”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “Yeah, Ellen, nothin’ I can’t handle.  Feeling better?’

 

Ellen pulled a face, “Ugh, don’t remind me.  I think I puked up half my guts.  Yes, I’m feeling better.  But I’m going to continue to pretend as if that never happened, m’k?”

 

Dean laughed again, “Yeah, no worries.  Anything happening tonight?”

 

“Nah, expecting a quiet night.  Pam’s back in town, though, she stopped by earlier to say hi.  Thought I’d give you a heads up.”

 

Something clicked in Dean’s head and he groaned.   _That_ had been the dark haired woman at the lunch place.  He was in trouble.

 

Jo walked up, “I’m taking bets.  Both on how long it takes for her to show up and on how long it takes for her to first grab Dean’s ass.  I’ll let you know who wins.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “Thanks, pip-squeak.”

 

“No problem, Dean-o!  I’m on tables, you’re on bar?  I’ve got money down on 10 for when she gets you.  I figure if you’re behind the bar it’ll increase my chances.  If you manage to delay her I’ll go halfsies on my winnings,” she finished in a singsong voice.

 

Dean coughed, covering a laugh, “Works for me, but I can’t guarantee you nothing, kid,” he liked Pam, he really did.  She had great taste in music, could make him laugh and was quite attractive.  She also tended to have wandering hands.  They had fallen into bed a few times but nothing ever serious.  He’d have to watch his back tonight.  Literally.

 

**\--**

 

A few regulars trickled in, along with a few college students, back early from summer break.  A short time later a young couple with two children wandered in as well, looking around wide-eyed, likely wondering what the hell they had gotten themselves into, but not backing down and taking a table away from the bar.

 

Gabriel, Cas and Sam came in thirty minutes into Dean’s shift, but he couldn’t do anything more than raise a hand in acknowledgement, busy serving drinks and shooting the shit, plus Jo would kill him lest Pam sneak up behind him.  They sat at a table towards the back, Jo quickly moving to say hi and get orders.  Meg came in shortly after that, raising an eyebrow at the group sitting in the back and moving to Dean.

 

“Looks like Angelface is back, must be something he likes here,” she winked at him and he rolled his eyes, deciding not to bait her.

 

“You’re on bar with me and switching off with Jo when she needs a break, good?”

 

“Mmm, fine sweet cheeks.  Some reason she wants you behind the bar?  We have a bachelorette party coming in or something?  We all know how those bachelorettes _love_ to take body shots off you,” she trailed a slim finger down his chest.

 

Dean snorted, and took a step back, “Nah, Pam’s back in town.”

 

“Ah, the bet,” Meg said wisely, “what time does she have?”

 

When Dean told her Meg swore, “She always gets the best time.  I’ll take 10:10.”

 

He raised his hands in the air, “Hey, keep me out of this, if you got a bet take it up with Jo.”

 

Ellen pushed through the kitchen doors, Ash following closely behind, “Do I pay you people to stand around and jabber?”  She flapped a dishtowel in their general direction, “Get moving, I got thirsty customers.”

 

“Hear, hear!” said Phil, pulling up a stool with a grin and a wink in Ellen’s direction.

 

She grinned in reply then waved a hand in the air, turning to the office in the back, “Call if you need anything.”

 

**\--**

 

Dean didn’t have a chance to stop by the table, but he kept an eye on them, catching Cas’s gaze every once in awhile.  He didn’t realize how much he was doing it until Meg punched him on the arm, none too lightly, and said, “Hey, lover boy, move so I can get to the tap, wouldya?”

 

He heard a guffaw from Gabe and hoped that the now darkened bar would hide the red tinting his cheeks.  After that, he tried to keep his eyes to himself.

 

Pam came in around 9 and Dean saw Ash handing over a 20 to Jo, a scowl on his face.  Pam made a beeline for him and he straightened his shoulders, returning her easy grin with one of his own.

 

“Dean!  Long time no see, hon!” she leaned over the bar top to place a light kiss on his cheek.  He leaned forward to meet her, keeping his butt well back.  

 

“How long are you back in town for?” he asked, grabbing the towel tucked into his pocket and starting to wipe the bar top down.

 

She took a seat, punching Phil lightly on the arm in greeting, “I’m here for at least a semester.  I need to finish up my graduate shit before my advisor throttles me”

 

She popped a peanut into her mouth and Dean started filling a mug from the tap when someone called an order from down the bar, “It would help if you stayed in town and actually did your ‘graduate shit’,” he said, keeping his eyes on the glass and getting the perfect amount of foam.

 

She snorted, “Why, miss me? There’re too many interesting things I want to do.  Studying is great and all but it gets so _tedious_.  Plus, real life experience is important for anthropology.  You can’t imagine all the interesting stories I get about ghosts and spooks from being out among the non-academics and their stuffiness. Ugh.”

 

He wrinkled his brow, passing the mug down and making a mark in the tab, “What _are_ you studying, anyway?” he asked, pointing to the tap with eyebrows raised in question.

 

She nodded, eating another peanut and he set to work making her a drink as well, “Something like, ‘spooks, specters and the afterlife in the American south’.  Working title,” she shrugged, “I mostly just like the ghost stories.”

 

From that opening he was able to ask her general questions about the stories she had heard and she told them with gusto.  Dean just had to make interested sounds every once in awhile and pour a drink or two when people asked.  He found his eyes were inevitably drawn to the man sitting and talking with Gabriel and Sam, his blue eyes bright and his white teeth flashing in a grin as he ate his burger.  Dean would be staring and suddenly the bright blue would be staring back and a bolt would go through him as though he had been electrocuted and he would look away, too coward to keep the eye contact.  But he would look back a few moments later to study the strong lines of the man’s face again.

 

Dean was leaning forward, stretching his body over the bar to grab an empty mug and making an interested sound while Pam said something about the odd religions in the south, when he felt a hand reach into his back pocket and give a firm squeeze.  He heard Jo crow a laugh and his eyes went to the clock, 9:58.  She was damn good.

 

His eyes jumped to Castiel, suddenly feeling a burning gaze on him.  Castiel was sitting, slightly stunned, eyes moving between him and Pam.  Something like hurt mixed with anger flickered across his face and his eyes focused on Pam.  Pam looked back to see what Dean was staring at and she started, looking back and forth between Castiel and Dean then she sat back on her stool with a groan.

 

“What?” Dean asked, trying not to sound defensive.  He stood fully upright himself, dirty mug clutched in one hand as if it were a lifeline.

 

“Ugh, well hog tie me and call me Sally.  You and hottie face over there are fucking, or you want to be fucking.  Or you fucked, like, two hours ago and now you’re reliving all the gory details.  And if that last one’s the case feel free to share,” she winked at him as Phil looked on, scandalized.

 

Dean rolled his eyes trying to keep his face blank, though he felt a blush rising up his neck, “Sorry, Pam, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  Pam was one of the few people who had known about his bisexuality before the whole incident yesterday.  After one of the times they had fallen into bed she had somehow managed to stumble on some of his more unusual porn.  Thankfully she hadn’t cared one whit, letting him know she usually favored women over men, he being one of the few exceptions.  Then she had tackled him for round two.

 

She snorted and took a long drag of her beer, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, “Come on, Dean, don’t lie to me.  When I grabbed your ass he glared at me like he wished he could burn my eyes out.  Tsch, possessive bastard, huh?  That probably means no more handfuls,” she twisted her mouth, looking disappointed.

 

“Dude, come on, we’re not even dating, we haven’t even _done_ anything,” not for lack of trying, but Dean didn’t mention that part.

 

“Hrm, well, he doesn’t seem to care about that,” thankfully whatever she was about to say was cut off by Gabriel walking up.

 

He nodded at Pam, and then turned to Dean, “Beer and a soda for Castiel, he’s still being a baby about that whole hangover thing.”

 

Pam grinned, “Castiel, huh?  Yeah, that fits him.”

 

Gabriel grinned back, “Pam, right?  Well, whatever you’re doing, feel free to keep doing it.  I’ve never seen my little bro so flustered before and it’s fun watching him”

 

She raised both hands in the air as Dean started pouring Gabe’s beer, soda already ready and waiting on the counter, her tone was amused, “You promise he’s not going to smite me?”

 

Gabe shook his head, “Nah, dude’s a pussy cat, wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

 

Pam didn’t look convinced, “Uh huh, well, I think I’ll keep my hands to myself for the rest of the night.  Sorry, hon,” she winked at Dean, who just shook his head, putting the mug of beer up on the counter for Gabe.

 

It wasn’t like Castiel had any claim over him anyway.  Pam was an old friend.  So he shouldn’t feel guilty, right?  He shook his head again as he saw Meg slap cash into Jo’s hand.

 

His eyes moved back to Cas again but the man was carefully avoiding looking his way, eyes now focused on his hands as they played with the straw in his cup.

 

**\--**

 

Castiel left shortly after that, leaving Gabe and Sam still sitting at the table.  Gabe shot Dean an apologetic look but didn’t get up from the table again.  Castiel hadn’t looked at Dean once.

 

Pam took one look at his face and said, “Sorry, hon. If I’d known,” she didn’t finish her sentence, putting one hand up in a half shrug.

 

He shook his head, trying to force his face into indifference, “Not your problem, Pam.  As I said, we’re not even dating so,” he trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought.

 

They weren’t dating.  Cas had no claim over him, just as Dean had no claim over Cas.  But somehow it felt like a betrayal.  This could be good, though.  Cas would see that Dean wasn’t for him.  Couldn’t be for him.  It was out of the way early and now Dean didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

 

He tried to put Cas out of his mind as Pam eyed him for a moment longer then started telling a particularly funny ghost story and how she had taken part in a séance.  He listened to the story, trying to concentrate on it and not the image of the look on Cas’s face that kept flashing through his mind.

 

**\--**

 

The rest of the night went by in a blur.  They closed on time, Ellen coming out to help them clean up.  She still looked a bit wan, but was obviously recovering well.

 

At her question of, “Anything happen I should know about?” everyone shook their head.  Jo broke up her winnings and handed half over to Dean, 100 bucks in all.  On top of that he walked away with some hefty tips.  It had been a good night.

 

Going home, though, he couldn’t help but see that look on Cas’s face over and over again.

 

**\--**

 

He didn’t see Cas or Gabe for a few days after that.  Bobby was back on Tuesday, a busted up Mustang attached to the back of the trailer as promised.  After Dean finished up Missouri’s car, changing out the timing belt as he’d thought, he got to take a look at it.  It wasn’t in as bad a shape as it first appeared, even had some of the original parts that seemed to be in working order.  It needed a lot of bodywork, though.  Bobby already had a buyer in mind and told Dean to completely overhaul the car.  The work kept his mind off the mess that he had somehow found himself in and his fingers away from his phone and dialing Castiel.

 

On Thursday Sam dropped by for lunch, bringing a homemade sandwich for both Bobby and Dean.  The three of them sat together and Dean was happy just to listen to his brother and Bobby argue good-naturedly about something.  

 

Dean couldn’t really keep his mind on what the argument was about, he was far too exhausted.  He had been working double time on the Mustang, taking everything apart, examining every last bit of the car and banging out dents in the body.  Bobby had given him a hard stare but hadn’t said anything, just let him have his space.  At nights he was working at The Roadhouse.  There he refused to stay still, and was constantly switching between tables and the bar, driving everyone a little nuts.  Ellen had pulled him away and asked what was going on but Dean had remained evasive and she eventually backed off, reminding him that if he had a problem and didn’t tell her she could still kick his ass.

 

He knew he was acting strangely but if he let himself stay still images of Cas would flood his mind.  He would remember gasps and how his lips tasted.  A jolt would go through him when blue flashed in his mind, as if the man himself was standing in front of Dean and he would feel the need to move.  He needed to get the restless energy off his body.  He also needed to keep his hands away from his phone.  He had pulled up Cas’s number on his phone a few times, stroking a thumb over the screen before shutting his phone with a snap, only to find his fingers making their way towards it again.  

 

He didn’t even know what he was going to say, _hey, sorry for letting Pam grab my ass.  It’s kind of this thing we do, ya know?  It’s not like she hasn’t seen it all anyway_.  It was better this way.  Classes were starting in a little over a week and Cas would focus on teaching and not on the strange man who he’d made out with a couple of times.

 

He sighed and focused back on the conversation.  Sam was saying something about how he’d found this car online and it looked like a good deal and maybe Bobby would be interested in checking it out.  He kept sending sidelong glances at Dean and it was obvious he was trying to pull Dean into the conversation.  Sam didn’t care much for cars.  Dean finally took pity on him and joined in, mentioning his dislike for old Volkswagen vans, even if they were in right now.

 

At least he could relax tonight, no work at The Roadhouse.  He could go home and collapse on the couch and watch mindless things.  That thought got him through the rest of the day.  

 

**\--**

 

He was sitting on the couch, miserably trying to banish thoughts of Cas and disgusted at how he had gotten a crush when he was a grown ass _man_ , when a knock came at the front door.  For an instant hope flared in Dean’s chest that maybe the person behind the door would have bright blue eyes and would flash him a beautiful smile but he shook the thought from his brain.  Knowing his luck it would be one of those Jesus freaks trying to convert him or something.

 

He opened the door and was surprised to see Benny, holding a covered pie tin, his other hand hiding behind his back.  He groaned and swung the door open wider, “Heya Benny, sorry, I kind of forgot it was… Well, I forgot it was Thursday, honestly.”

 

Benny flashed him a grin, stepping inside the house, “No problem, brother.  You still up for football and pie tonight?”

 

Dean nodded, closing the door, “Always up for pie, man.  I don’t have a ton to eat but I can order something?”

 

Benny shook his head, “Nah, I ate something already, just off my shift.”

 

“Perfect,” Dean said.  He had had a bowl of cereal after he showered off the sweat and grease from Bobby’s and wasn’t particularly hungry.

 

Benny pulled his hand from behind his back with a flourish, “I brought us a treat!”

 

In his hand was one of the dark green, corked bottles that Benny used for his home brewing.

 

Dean eyed the bottle, “Is that what I think it is?” he asked.

 

“If you’re thinkin’ it’s the first batch of my apple pie brandy, then you’d be thinkin’ right,” Benny’s voice took on a heavier southern drawl and he winked.

 

“Oh, Benny, you trying to kill me?” Dean asked, turning and leading them towards the kitchen.  Benny’s apple pie brandy was damn good, but strong.

 

Benny huffed a breath, “Nah, figured you deserved it after the week you had, and it just reached the two week mark.  Thought we could crack it open as long as I can sleep on your couch tonight.”

 

Dean stifled a bitter laugh, “Yeah, Benny, thanks.  You’re awesome.”

 

“I know it, brother,” Benny said as he followed Dean into the kitchen.

 

**\--**

 

They were sitting on the couch, Benny yelling at the screen, words slightly slurred.  Dean was sitting next to him stifling hysterical laughter.

 

“You know they can’t hear you right?  I think this game is in, like,” Dean wrinkled his nose, “I don’t know, California or something.  It’s a long way away,” Dean was slightly tipsy himself, enjoying the buzz of the alcohol deep in his bones.  Benny’s pecan pie had been marvelous, but the apple pie brandy had hit the spot.

 

A knock sounded at his door and he stumbled up, “Those Jesus freaks, they just don’t give up, huh?  Should we invite them in for a drink?”  He asked Benny.  Trying to walk to the door he realized he was a little tipsier than he thought.

 

Benny barked out a laugh, and flung out both hands “Let ‘em in, we’ll have some fun with ‘em.  They’ll never bother you again,” Benny’s southern drawl was fully out now and with the alcohol fuzzing Dean’s brain he was difficult to understand.

 

Dean heard the knock again, “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.  Hold on to your bibles.”

 

He opened the door and said, “You’re not Jesus.”

 

He’d meant to say, “You’re not a Jesus freak” but he was so shocked at seeing Cas standing there on his doorstep, overlarge trench coat hanging off his shoulders, that his mind had stuttered to a stop.

 

Cas gave him a bemused expression, “No, I’m Castiel.”

 

Dean shook his head and the world spun for a moment, “No, I know you’re Castiel.  I just… didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

“Yes, well, Gabriel has been driving me insane.  I almost think he’s doing it on purpose, and I don’t know anyone and I didn’t have your number.  I didn’t want to ask Gabe for it because then he might try to follow me, and I’ve been staying late in the office for the past few days but I just can’t do that anymore,” Cas said this all in a breath, sounding anxious, as though Dean was going to toss him down the street or something.  As though Cas showing up at Dean’s door wasn’t what Dean had been dreaming about every single damn night since Monday.

 

“Are they coming in or what?” Benny called from the living room.  Dean saw Cas stiffen.

 

“I didn’t realize you had company.  I can go,” Cas’s voice was stiff as well.

 

“No!” Dean would have reached out and grabbed Cas’s arm, if he could have moved that fast with the alcohol thrumming in his system, “It’s Benny, from the diner.  He makes Gabe’s pancakes.  He’s a friend.  We’re watching football.  You can come in.  We have pie and apple pie brandy,” Dean saw Cas hesitate, and said, “Please.”

 

Cas’s face softened and he nodded.  Dean’s heart thumped a rapid tattoo in his chest as he stepped back to give Cas more room.

 

**\--**

 

Cas took a slice of pie and a small glass of the brandy, eyeing it warily, into the living room, sitting on the chair while Dean joined Benny on the couch.  After a discrete sniff and a small taste he hummed approval and took a deeper sip.

 

“This is wonderful, thank you, Dean.”

 

Dean punched Benny on the arm, “Thank Benny here, for the pie and the brandy.  Both are some secret recipe from the south or something.”

 

Cas turned to Benny, scrutinizing the man, Benny frowned, a wrinkle forming between his brows, obviously not paying them any attention, “Shit, I think they’re gonna lose.  I had 50 bucks riding on this game.”

 

Dean snorted, “You don’t know shit ‘bout football, man.”

 

That touched off an argument about football teams, which was silly because Dean knew next to nothing about football beyond what he heard while working at The Roadhouse.  He had an excess of energy though, from Castiel finally being back in his house, that he had to work it off someway, arguing with Benny seemed the safest course.  He finally admitted defeat and Benny nodded, looking pleased.

 

A commercial break flashed on the screen and Benny’s face suddenly looked very serious.  He turned to Castiel, “You.  You had better treat Dean well.  If I hear anything about anything I will dismember you, understand?” his voice had somehow lost the slurring.

 

Dean spluttered and tried to tell them both that he was _right there, damn it!_ and that they couldn’t talk about him like that.  They both ignored him.  Cas gave Benny an odd look but nodded.  Benny stared at him a second longer than stood up and said, slur back in his voice, “Half time, another round of drinks?”

 

**\--**

 

Two more glasses of brandy later and Dean was leaning on Cas, who had somehow switched places with Benny and was just as tipsy as Dean himself.  They were both laughing at Benny who was swearing in a mix of French and English as he watched his team lose spectacularly.

 

“Shut up, guys, Andrea is gonna _kill_ me,” Benny growled as he flipped the TV off.

 

Dean snorted, trying to catch his breath “You better not blame _me_ for this.  You sick Andrea on me and _I’ll_ kill you.”

 

“Yeah, yeah” Benny mumbled, “I’m tired.  I’m going to go to sleep.  Move your butts off the couch.”

 

Dean stood, wobbling slightly.  He held out a hand to Cas, “Come on up, Cas.  The prince wishes to sleep.”

 

On anyone else the sound that came out of Cas would have been a giggle but Dean was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Cas took his hand and nearly pulled Dean back down on the couch, then got gingerly to his feet, holding tight to Dean as he swayed slightly.

 

“You, you are drunk, Castiel,” Dean said his name carefully, tasting each syllable.

 

Cas straightened and spoke slowly, “I think that brandy was a little more stonger than I’m used to.”

 

Dean whispered, rather loudly, “I’m gon’ let you in on a little secret.  It’s not _actually_ brandy.  It’s got moonshine in it.  So, it’s, ya know, _strong_ ,” Dean brought his arms up and flexed to demonstrate.

 

Cas wrapped a warm hand around Dean’s bicep, laughing and clutching at his stomach with his other hand.

 

“Would you drunks _shut up_?  Some people are trying to sleep here,” Benny’s voice came from where he was lying on the couch, and he dramatically flung his arm over his eyes.

 

That set Cas and Dean back to laughing and they stumbled their way out of the living room, hanging onto each other for balance, Dean reaching over to flip off the light.

 

In the kitchen Dean abruptly stopped laughing, “You can’t drive home.  I can call Gabe to pick you up.”

 

“Nooooo, don’t call Gabe,” Cas pleaded.

 

“I can’t drive you home and I’m not gonna let you drive,” Dean had seen his father come home drunk often enough, thankfully not dead from his driving, and even more thankful that he hadn’t killed anyone on his drive home.  Dean had made a vow that once he was old enough he would not allow anyone to drive home drunk.  It was one of the things that made him a good bartender.

 

Cas leaned against him, “I just wanna go to sleep.  Well, and I need to pee really bad.”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “Okay, come on,” if he had been sober, or even a little less drunk, he probably would have realized just how stupid this was.  He _should_ have called Gabe, or even Sam to give Cas a ride home, it was only 10, Sam would still be up.  Instead he led a slightly wobbly Cas upstairs, shoved a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt into his hands then pushed him into the bathroom with an order of, “pee and get changed.”

 

He changed into his own pajamas and when Cas came out of the bathroom, looking slightly lost Dean shoved him towards his bed, with a “go to sleep” to send him on his way.  Cas complied after muttering something about mouthwash.  Dean used the bathroom himself and brushed his teeth, putting the bottle of mouthwash Cas had used back under the sink.  

 

When he walked out of the bathroom he saw Cas lying face down on the bed, face smooshed against a pillow and hair sticking up everywhere.  He was goddamn adorable and Dean felt his heart stutter in his chest.  He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, suddenly realizing what he had allowed to happen.  He flipped off the light and gingerly got in bed, trying to keep the jostling to a minimum.  Cas flipped on his side, facing Dean, and scooted towards him.  Dean huffed quietly at his own stupidity and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.  Cas made a sound again and Dean turned his head to look at him, his face was smoothed now in sleep and he looked gorgeous.  Dark lashes resting on his cheeks, hair tousled, and breathing easily.  Dean fell asleep looking at Cas.

 

**\--**

 

Dean woke well before his alarm went off.  He glanced at the window to see the muted light of false dawn filtering through his blinds.  He was quite warm and his fuzzy thoughts suddenly snapped to attention when he realized why he was so warm.  There was a body pressed tight to his side.  He glanced down to see a head of dark hair resting on his shoulder.  An arm was slung across his chest and a leg was snaked between his own.  

 

“Shit,” he kept his voice quiet, “Oh shit.  Fuck,” Cas was pressed up against him and he felt his body start to respond to the closeness.  He breathed slowly, trying to make himself calm down.  He brought his eyes to his ceiling, thinking about football and when that didn’t work, Bobby.  Bobby worked pretty well.  Then Cas groaned lowly and stirred.  The sound made heat flare deep in Dean’s gut and he held his breath, hoping that Cas would settle back down so Dean could find some way out of this without embarrassing the fuck out of himself.  Instead Cas moved his head off of Dean’s shoulder and blearily opened his eyes, focusing on Dean’s face.  A sleepy smile bloomed on Cas’s face and Dean couldn’t help but answer it with a smile of his own.

 

Cas shifted up and kissed him gently then leaned back and said, “Good morning, Dean,” then he wrinkled his nose and said, “Bleh, my mouth tastes gross.  Sorry.”

 

Dean stared at him for a moment, stunned, then snorted a laugh and swooped down to claim Cas’s mouth with his own, turning on his side to fully face the man.  Cas grinned into the kiss and Dean took the opening to suck Cas’s bottom lip into his mouth and nibble it lightly, turning Cas’s grin into a groan.  Dean released his lip to chase the groan from Cas’s mouth, tangling his tongue with Cas’s own.  

 

Dean felt a warm hand move to the skin of his stomach, skimming over the soft hairs there, then up to graze over his nipple.  He had never really been a nipple guy but a soft pinch made him gasp lightly.  He moved his mouth down Cas’s jaw to scrape his teeth over the dark stubble there.  He mouthed at Cas’s earlobe to elicit a moan from the other man, who moved a hand to rest on Dean’s lower back and pull their bodies closer.  

 

The feeling of Cas’s hardness aligning with his own sent blood rushing to Dean’s head and tore a deep groan from his throat.  “Dean,” Cas gasped, rocking their lower bodies together.  Suddenly he broke the connection and rolled on top of Dean pushing him onto his back and straddling his hips, grinning broadly, “This is quite a lovely way to wake up.”

 

Dean laughed lowly, “I think I could get used to it”

 

Cas leaned over him to kiss his mouth gently, “I can think of some other ways to make it an even better way to wake up, if you’re up for it.”

 

Dean laughed again, tilting his hips up so that Cas could feel that Dean was more than happy to explore his options, “I believe I’m _up_ for it, yeah.”

 

Cas rolled his eyes at Dean’s terrible pun, “Poor choice of words on my part,” but he kissed Dean again, hands moving to push Dean’s shirt up, breaking the kiss in order to push Dean’s shirt over his head.  Dean moved his arms up, helping Cas pull his t-shirt over his arms to tangle at his wrists.  Cas held one hand there, keeping the t-shirt pulled taut over Dean’s wrists, then moved down to mouth at Dean’s collarbone, then down again to his nipple, laving it with his tongue then blowing lightly, watching it pebble.  Dean threw his head back at the feeling, hands gripping at the t-shirt.

 

Cas glanced up at him and smiled, then leaned up and nibbled on Dean’s ear before whispering, “Hands stay there unless you want me to stop, yeah?” his hands tightened momentarily on the t-shirt and Dean nodded vigorously, “Good boy.”

 

Dean would have rankled at the words but Cas sucked lightly at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and Dean felt his protests die.  It didn’t really bother him that much anyway.  Cas moved his hand down Dean’s arm, trailing his fingertips lightly over Dean’s skin and making goose bumps appear in their wake.  He continued to move his mouth down, stopping to suck and lick and explore.  His hands followed, tweaking and playing with Dean’s nipples.  Cas nipped lightly at the thin skin just below Dean’s bellybutton and Dean gasped again, hands twisting in the fabric of his t-shirt.  He wished he could be touching Cas but he wasn’t about to stop him.

 

Cas stopped when he got the tent in Dean’s pajama pants, mouth hovering over the tip of his erection, where a wet spot was already blooming.  He looked up into Dean’s eyes, face serious, “Is this okay?” he asked.

 

“Christ, yes, please Cas,” Dean gasped, realizing that Cas hadn’t said he would stop as a threat, but as a promise in case Dean started feeling uncomfortable.  Something unfurled in Dean’s chest at the realization.  It may have also been for Cas’s comfort, Dean realized, and it hit him how little they knew of each other.

 

Cas grinned at Dean and licked at his erection through the thin fabric of his pajama pants.  Dean threw his head back again at the muted feeling, forcing himself to stay still.  Cas hummed and squeezed at Dean’s hips, then slid his fingers under the elastic of his pants.  Cas waited until Dean looked down again and met his eyes then slowly started to pull Dean’s pants down, keeping eye contact.

 

Dean’s erection bobbed free and Cas smiled, but continued his slow movement down Dean’s body, pulling Dean’s pants with him.  Once they were off Cas made his slow way back up Dean’s body, pressing kisses into his knees, his thighs and the soft skin of his hips.  Dean felt each kiss make the fire in his stomach flare higher.  Cas finally licked at Dean’s erection again and Dean almost came undone right there, his hips canting up to chase the feeling.  Cas blew lightly on the tip and Dean arched his back.  Suddenly the feeling was gone and Cas was back to teasing the skin of Dean’s hips and thighs.

 

Dean whined low in his throat at the loss of sensation and garbled out a plea to Cas, closing his eyes. Then in one swift movement Cas licked up the length of Dean’s erection and enveloped the head in his mouth, moving one hand to wrap around the shaft.  His other arm moved to lay across Dean’s hips, holding him still.

 

Dean rocked his head back and forth on the pillow at the feeling shocking him to his bones.  Cas was moving, twisting his hand and doing _something_ with his tongue that had Dean’s toes curling.  Within minutes Dean was close, so close, but he needed Cas up here with him.  

 

He pushed the t-shirt out of his hands but didn’t move them from the head of the bed instead saying, “Cas, Cas,” Cas looked up, mouth still wrapped around Dean’s dick and Dean had to ball his hands into fists, fingernails digging into his palms to stop himself from losing it right there, Cas's eyes were electric blue, “Please, come up here.”

 

Cas moved his mouth off of Dean, giving him one last lick, then he moved slowly up Dean’s body until they were face to face.  Holding his body off of Dean’s, he asked, “Dean?  Is everything okay?” Cas’s voice was deep and rough and sent a shiver up Dean’s body.

 

“Yes, Jesus, yes,” he kissed Cas once then rolled them over so that he was on top, bringing his hands down to the top of Cas’s pants he caught the blue gaze in his own.  Giving the pants a light tug he asked, “Okay?” Cas nodded, pupils almost overwhelming the blue.  Dean tugged on the pants, moving them as far down Cas’s legs as he could reach.

 

He brought their hips into alignment, and wrapped a hand around both of them, precome and saliva making his grip slick.  He tightened his hand and rocked his hips.  Cas gasped, eyes flying open, then threw his head back with a groan.

 

“Christ, you’re beautiful,” Dean groaned lowly, hand moving over both of them and hips rocking him into the tunnel of his hand. He leaned down and kissed Cas, opening his mouth to tease the roof of Cas’s mouth.  Cas rocked his hips up and they found a rhythm that worked for both of them.  Dean twisted his hand on the upstroke and Cas gasped again, breaking their kiss

 

“Dean, I’m close,” Cas grated out.  

 

Dean dropped his head and whispered, “Come for me,” then caught Cas’s earlobe between his teeth.  He heard Cas’s breath catch in his throat, then felt warmth spurt over his hand.  He drew his head back to watch as Cas came.  A few more pumps of his hips while watching the emotions chase across that beautiful face and he came as well, gasping and dropping his head to rest at Cas’s neck.

 

He sat there panting for a moment then released his grip and rolled off Cas, grinning stupidly.  He dropped his head to the side to look at Cas, who still had his head thrown back and his eyes closed.  He brought his hand up to his mouth, examining the mess coating his fingers then took an exploratory lick, tasting.  He heard a low groan and glanced at Cas, who had shifted onto his side and was staring at him, eyes locked on his lips.

 

“Dean,” Cas’s voice sounded like it had been dragged over gravel.  Dean kept his eyes on Cas then snaked his tongue out again to lick.  Cas groaned again then grabbed Dean’s wrist, stilling his movements.  Cas tugged, pulling Dean’s hand towards him and took two of Dean’s fingers into his mouth.

 

It was Dean’s turn to groan as he felt Cas’s tongue swirl at his fingers, and his dick gave an interested twitch.  Cas pulled his mouth off Dean’s fingers with a pop then examined the rest of his hand, tongue licking to clean what was left of the cooling liquid.  Dean couldn’t move his eyes away from Cas’s plush mouth and once his hand was fully clean Cas twined their fingers together, pulling their hands down to rest next to them.  Dean shifted onto his side as well and stared at the man in front of him.  Cas’s eyes were hooded and his face was relaxed.  He gave Dean a slight smile.

 

“Christ, Cas, that _was_ a good way to wake up” Dean said.

 

Cas snorted, “I’d say so,” he shifted slightly, then made a face, “I’m all messy”

 

Dean brought their hands up and kissed their entwined fingers, “I’ll be right back.”

 

He heaved himself off the bed and made his way to the washroom, glancing back to see Cas eyeing his backside.  Feeling a flush moving up his body he closed the door behind him.  After cleaning himself up and using the bathroom, he grabbed a clean, wet washcloth and brought it out to Cas, who had removed his borrowed shirt and pants and was sitting up on the bed.  Dean handed Cas the washcloth, and he used it to swipe at his belly.  As Cas was cleaning up Dean grabbed him something clean to wear, and pulled on a pair of pants himself.

 

He joined Cas on the bed and handed him the clean set of clothes, but the man made no move to put them on.  Instead he stared at Dean, a serious look coming over his face.

 

Suddenly he spoke, “Dean, I want to apologize for how I acted on Monday.  We are not dating and I acted improperly.  Gabriel was more than willing to point that out,” Cas’s smiled bitterly, “my last… well, the last person I was intimate with cheated on me with a woman.  I actually walked in on them,” Dean winced and was about to tell Cas that he didn’t need to go on but Cas raised a hand to stall him, “Do you know about my brothers?  I believe Gabriel has told you something about them?” at Dean’s nod Castiel continued, “Well, after I found him with the woman.  I was angry, we fought.  He kept trying to win me back.  I refused and after a few months of my refusing he went to my brothers and told them that I was gay in retaliation.  They were not,” Cas hesitated, “They were not happy with me.”

 

Dean felt sick to his stomach.  Jo had outed him, but it had been a miscalculation done out of love.  What Cas’s ex had done was unforgivable.  Cas huffed a laugh, “I had been planning on telling my brothers after I had found a job away from them and the town anyway, it just kind of sped up my timeline.  At the time I was teaching at the local college.  They have quite a following of people who believe a rather virulent form of Christianity.  They encouraged those people to harass me.  I got hostile phone calls, angry letters.  My work was contacted and told of my sexuality.  I had enough when a rock was thrown through my window, I had just gotten the offer to teach at this college and I called Gabe and asked if I could join him.  After taking care of everything back there… well, you know the rest.  When I saw that woman grab your ass it all kind of flared up again.  I had no right to act that way.”

 

Dean wasn’t entirely sure what to say.  He looked down at his hands resting in his lap and after a beat of silence Cas said, “I’m sorry, that was kind of a lot to say after, well, after this morning,” Dean huffed a laugh, “I just thought I should apologize and perhaps try to explain my actions.”

 

Dean decided he should just tell Cas everything.  He glanced up and caught Cas’s eyes, seeing a hint of panic buried there, “Cas, it’s okay, really.  Pam is an old friend and she tends to say hi by grabbing people’s butts.  We dated for a short time,” okay, not the whole truth, but this was an easier way to explain it, “it doesn’t mean anything, I promise,” Cas held his gaze for a moment then nodded, but his eyes still held a hint of panic.

 

“Do you forgive me?” he asked, hesitantly.

 

Dean laughed, “Of course I do, Cas, Jesus.  After this morning I’m pretty sure I could forgive anything.”

 

The smile that Cas gave him was blinding and he settled back on the bed, leaning back against the headboard.  He was surprised when Cas moved closer, rolling to his side and scooting down so that he was resting against Dean.  Dean hadn’t put a shirt on and Cas was still naked and the shock of skin against skin made Dean jump.  At the movement Cas looked up at him, “Is this okay?” he asked.

 

Dean nodded, bringing his arm up to rest against Cas’s back.  Something was still on Dean’s mind, though, “Cas,” he said quietly.  Cas’s fingers, which were drawing abstract figures on Dean’s stomach, faltered for a moment and he said, “Yes, Dean?”

 

Dean hesitated, he had never asked this before and he had no idea what words to use, “I’m not… I’m not the smartest guy, and I don’t have a lot of money,” Cas looked up at him, a frown on his face and brows drawn low, Dean continued, “I mean, I’m sure you’re gonna meet some awesome people at school and maybe you’ll find someone there,” Dean dropped his head back against the headboard, “Shit, I’m no good at this.  What I’m trying to say is, could I take you out sometime, like on a date, you know, as a proper boyfriend?” he held his breath.

 

Cas laughed and Dean felt the rumble in his chest, “Yes, Dean, that would be nice.  I thought that my actions would have shown you that I would be more than open to going out on a date.”

 

Dean felt the knot in his chest ease and he brought his head down to glance at Cas, who was looking up at him, eyes soft.  He laughed and leaned down to plant a kiss on Cas’s lips.  A rumble in his stomach interrupted the soft kiss and he flushed when Cas laughed,

  
“Yeah, yeah, time to get up, I’m hungry.  You shower, I’ll make breakfast,” Cas gave him a gentle smile and kissed him one last time, then levered himself off the bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate it!
> 
> I'm freaking out a little about this chapter, but I'm running on 3 hours of sleep, so whee! On that note, I apologize for spelling/grammar errors.
> 
> Also, a reader pointed out that the link I posted about Smarties comes from a British TV show and that Britain (and other places of the world) has a Smarties candy that is different from the US Smarties candy. Look at them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties aren't they yummy looking?! I had no idea they existed. I assumed that candy, like love, is universal, which is just silly of me. Since this story takes place in the US, Gabe is referring to the US Smarties: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties_(wafer_candy) which are basically pure sugar and which I used to get all the time for Halloween but now I don't see them around as much. Now I really want to try the other kind of Smarties, yum!
> 
> If you find a good recipe for Apple Pie Moonshine/Brandy it tastes just like apple pie but in liquid form. The only recipe I have tried is a secret recipe, so I'm not sure how either of these are but here are some recipes if you want to give it a go: With Moonshine/Everclear: http://www.moonshineheritage.com/blog/apple-pie-moonshine/. With brandy: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/apple-brandy. I think I would mix up the recipes and use the real apples instead of the apple juice.
> 
> PLEASE DO NOT drink the moonshine/everclear version unless you are 100% sure of your tolerance. That version is incredibly strong and, if it tastes anything like the apple pie moonshine I tried, it is incredibly good but tends to sneak up on you, since the alcohol is difficult to taste. I'm not kidding, everclear can be very dangerous. Also, don't drink unless you're at the legal age where you live. I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting in trouble.
> 
> I'm going to start replying individually to comments. I'm still new to this, so I wasn't sure if that was normal, but I noticed that some of the writers I read do it, so I'm going to start too!


	12. Chapter 12

As Cas walked to the bathroom Dean took the chance to ogle his butt this time, then he sighed and got up, making the bed into some semblance of clean.  He would need to change the sheets but that could wait until after he got some food in him.  He glanced at the clock and switched his alarm off.  While it had been a very pleasant way to wake up, he was still up ass early.  He heard the shower switch on in his bathroom and the thought of a naked, wet, soapy Cas flashed in his head.  

 

He knocked on the door, then opened it a crack.  He wasn’t _trying_ to catch a glance of Cas in the mirror, but the glimpse of a strong ass through the foggy door of the shower made him grin, “Cas? Clean towels are on the bed.”

 

“Thanks, Dean,” he heard Cas answer.  Dean took a second longer to enjoy the view and Cas turned to meet his eyes in the mirror, eyebrow raised, “Want to join me?” he asked.

 

Dean laughed, “Would love to Cas, but I’m gonna go make breakfast.  Feel free to steal any clothes and come downstairs when you’re ready,” Cas nodded and Dean left the bedroom, humming something tuneless to himself.

 

Benny was already gone, blanket folded neatly on top of the couch and a note left on the kitchen table reading _Alcohol and pie in the fridge_.  Sure enough, when Dean opened his fridge what was left of both were sitting there.  He was tempted to have a slice of the pie for breakfast but left it and dug around for the eggs and bacon.  He even had some pancake mix.  As he was making up the pancakes it suddenly hit him what he had done.  He sat down hard in a chair.

 

“Fuck,” he had asked Cas out.  What was it about the man that caused Dean’s mind to fizzle when he was near?  His cell was still in the bedroom so he grabbed the home phone off it’s hook and dialed Sam, hands returning to their task.  He glanced down and with another curse put the bowl down, the pancakes would come out hard as a rock if he kept stirring.

 

Sam answered on the second ring, out of breath, “Dean?  Are you okay?”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “I asked Cas out, Sam.”

 

Sam hesitated a moment then said, “No one died?”

 

Dean wrinkled his brow, “Why would you think someone died?”

 

It was Sam’s turn to huff a breath, “It’s 6:30 in the morning and you’re on the house phone, Dean.  I think that constitutes ‘out of character’ for you.”

 

_Oh, right_ , Dean said, “No, everyone is fine,” he started cursing himself, regretting his call to Sam in his moment of panic.

 

“Dean, this is good!  When did you ask him?  Where are you guys going?” Sam sounded excited for him and it ratcheted up the anxiety roiling in Dean’s gut.

 

“This morning.  I don’t know.  I don’t know, Sam.  Where am I supposed to take him?  What would we even _talk_ about?” he heard the slight panic in his voice and forced himself to take a deep breath.

 

“Dean,” Sam said slowly, “You’ve asked people on dates before.  You’ve _been_ on dates before, why are you freaking out now?”

 

Dean knew why he was freaking out.  This didn’t feel the same as most of his other relationships.  There was a _bond_ that he felt with Cas already, and it terrified him.  But he couldn’t tell Sam that.  Dean rubbed a hand over his face.

 

“Sorry, Sam.  I think I’m just tired, or something.  Forget I called you.”

 

Dean could hear Sam hesitating on the other end of the line then he finally said, “Wait you asked him out _this morning_?  What is Cas doing at your house at 6:30 in the morning?  Needed to borrow a cup of sugar?”  

 

Sam’s voice was so smugly amused that Dean just rolled his eyes said, “Bye, Sam,” and hung up.

 

Despite the fact that Sam hadn’t been any help, Dean’s stomach had untied itself a little.  He _had_ been on dates, he would be fine.  He had managed to keep himself distant from his other relationships, he could do the same here.

 

He stood and tested the griddle, finding it to be a perfect temperature, he set about making breakfast.

 

**\--**

 

Cas came down a few minutes after breakfast was finished, dressed in the clean pair of pajamas that Dean had leant him.  He stopped in the kitchen door for a moment looking at Dean with a slight smile.

 

“What?” Dean asked, placing a plate on the table and looking at Cas.  Cas didn’t answer for a moment, just tilted his head to the side, still smiling gently.  Dean glanced at the table to see if something was askew.

 

“Nothing, Dean, breakfast looks wonderful, thank you,” Cas walked to the table and took a seat.  Dean held up a finger, turned to place the last of the dirty skillets in the sink to soak then joined Cas at the table.  They ate together in companionable silence and finished at almost the same time.  Dean sat back with a sigh and looked at Cas.  Cas was looking at him, still smiling.  Suddenly the daydreams that Dean had when they were unpacking came back to him.  Of domestic scenes just like this.  His heart thundered to a stop and he cleared his throat.

 

“I, um, shower, I need to shower.  You can hang around here if you want.  I won’t be long.  Or you can go, of course.  Whatever you like,” Dean stood up a little too fast, making his chair scrape against the tile of the floor painfully.  He reached forward to take Cas’s plate and Cas placed a gentle hand on his wrist, stilling his movements.

 

“Dean, please, you made breakfast, let me clean up,” Dean was sure that Cas could feel his pulse battering under the thin skin of his wrist, but Cas just gave him a small smile, tugged Dean closer and leaned up to kiss him.

 

Dean relaxed into the kiss and Cas’s thumb started rubbing light patterns on his wrist.  Cas broke the kiss and leaned back then brought Dean’s hand up and kissed him lightly where his thumb had been stroking just a moment before.  Dean’s felt goosebumps chase their way up his arm and his body tighten in response.  

 

Cas grinned at him, eyes hooded, “Let me take care of this, go shower.”

 

Dean nodded, brought his mouth down for a last lingering kiss, then walked out of his kitchen, amazed at how steady his legs were.

 

**\--**

 

He made the shower quick, shaved and dressed for work at Bobby’s, fighting jaw cracking yawns.  He hesitated at the top of the stairs, hearing light clattering as Cas worked on the dishes.  He couldn’t really believe what had happened.  He walked lightly down the stairs and stopped for a moment in the kitchen doorway.  Cas was standing at the sink, humming along to classical music playing from his phone.  He was silhouetted by dim light filtering through the curtains and looked practically angelic.  His ass looked good in Dean’s pajama pants as well.

 

Dean took a step into the kitchen and he must have made a noise because Cas turned to him and smiled.  A big gummy smile that made something warm and sweet settle in Dean’s stomach.

 

“Here,” he walked over to where Cas was standing and took the plate from his hand, grabbing a dish towel and drying the plates as Cas handed them over.  Cas started humming along to the music again and Dean was reminded anew of that day in Cas’s office.   _Don’t get used to this_ his mind screamed.

 

They finished the dishes and Dean passed the dish towel to Cas so the man could dry his hands.  

 

They stood looking at each other and Cas smiled again, “What time do you have to go to work?” he asked.

 

Dean glanced at his watch, 7:15 “Soon, I start at 8 at Bobby’s.”

 

Cas tilted his head, “You work quite a bit, Dean.  What _is_ your schedule?”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Trying to figure out the next time you can show up at my house unannounced?”

 

Cas flushed, “I called The Roadhouse but they wouldn’t give me your number and they said that you were not there.  I was desperate.  Gabriel is not making it easy.”

 

“Hrm, I’m sure it’ll get better when you start school.  You’ll get lots of fawning students and you’ll have papers to grade, and you know,” Dean waved his hand in the air, not entirely sure what else professors did.

 

Cas smiled then said, “You never did tell me your schedule.”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “Not gonna let it go, huh?  I’m at Bobby’s Monday through Friday 8 - 5 and sometimes on the weekends if I need to finish a car up.  I’m at The Roadhouse, um, most nights actually, every night except for Thursday, starting at 6 and going until we’re closed, 2 or 3, usually.  I have weekend days free,” Castiel raised his eyebrows and Dean rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t have a ton of free time, Cas.”

 

“I believed you, I just didn’t realize how little free time you have,” Cas shook his head, “we’ll work it out.  Could I have your cellphone number, though?  So perhaps this won’t happen again?”

 

“Perhaps I want this to happen again, huh, Cas?” Dean said with a smirk, and Cas flushed again, but he took the offered cellphone and entered his information, feeling his heart work double.

 

He handed it back and glanced at his watch again, “I gotta go Cas, you’re welcome to hang around here, just lock the door behind you.”

 

Cas opted to leave with him and went upstairs to change back into his clothes from last night.  Dean looked around the kitchen, now warmed by the morning sun.  It seemed emptier with Cas gone, but his presence lingered.  In the driveway in front of Dean’s house, standing next to the Impala, Cas backed Dean up into the driver’s side door and kissed him soundly, hands resting low on Dean’s hips.  He gave a last squeeze as he backed up.  

 

“I’ll see you later, Dean,” then he turned, walked to his car and drove away.  Dean stood there for a moment, blood rushing in his veins and head light.  Then he got into the impala and drove to Bobby’s to start his day.

 

**\--**

 

Saturday morning came and Dean was sitting on his couch, cartoons playing in the background.  He was trying to figure out how to call Cas, maybe even ask him to come over so they could spend the day together before he had to go to his shift at The Roadhouse.  He was almost willing Cas to call him instead.  He had pulled up Cas’s number multiple times but kept closing his phone before he could press the little green button.  He had opened his phone yet again when _I Want Candy_ played.  Dean grunted and pressed “accept”.

 

“What’s up Gabe?”

 

“Dean!  You’re coming over here for lunch, right?”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow at that question.  He didn’t _remember_ setting up lunch with Gabe, “Um, sure?”

 

“Great!  Cassie has been moping and trying to figure out how to call you,”  Dean grinned when he heard a voice that he was pretty sure belonged to Cas let out an indignant _Hey!_ his heart melting in his chest at the thought that maybe he wasn’t the only one that wasn’t totally sure of his footing here.  Gabriel continued, “Sam is coming over too.”

 

Dean huffed, and jokingly said, “So you finally worked out the guts to ask him out, huh?” He heard Gabriel suck in a breath and go suddenly quiet, so quiet that he thought he may have been disconnected. “Gabe?” he asked after a moment.

 

“Do, um, do you think he would say yes?” Gabe’s voice was so carefully hesitant that Dean tramped down on his immediate desire to make a joke.

 

“Gabe, I think the worst that can happen is he says no,” Dean said carefully, “you’re a good friend and I think there could be more there than that.  I’m not sure, though.  He’s never shown any interest in guys before.  But you should give it a chance,” he heard Sam’s voice echoing in his head at those words.

 

Gabe stayed silent.  Finally Dean heard a huge sigh then, “I’ll consider it, Dean-o, see you at 11?”

 

Dean grunted consent and flipped his phone shut.  He watched Road Runner _meep meep!_ then start leading Wile E. Coyote off a cliff, laughed quietly at how Wile E. Coyote _always_ looked down.  If he just kept running he would be fine.  He started flipping through channels when the commercials came on, he still had a few hours before he had to leave for Gabe’s.  He paused at the news, seeing _Protests Outside IL State Senate Building_ flash at the bottom of the screen.  An attractive woman with a microphone was on camera, people holding nasty signs and chanting behind her.

 

Dean turned the volume up, trying to catch what she was saying, “I’m here in front of the Illinois State Senate building, where members of the New Baptist Church of Illinois have been protesting the same sex marriage bill being debated here.  The church, led by Michael Novak,” a picture of a man with light eyes and dark hair flashed on the screen and something niggled at the back of Dean’s mind, “is often found protesting various places.  This is not the first time they have been seen protesting in front of the State Senate building.  The church, started by Michael Novak’s father and located in southern Illinois, has radical views on Christianity, often clashing with other churches and religious groups as well as government and secular organizations.”

 

The anchor asked a question, but Dean was distracted by the picture of Michael.  Something was familiar about him but Dean couldn’t place it, the reporter’s voice brought Dean’s attention back, she was obviously answering the question posed by the anchor, “Yes, Daniel, the church includes many of the Novak family, Michael, Raphael and Uriel are all considered the leaders of the church.  They have many extended family who are often seen at protests, as well as a sister, who has rarely been seen in public.  Three brothers have left the family,” Dean suddenly felt prickles explode under his skin and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach.  This was Castiel’s family.

 

The people holding signs with disgusting slurs and chanting something that Dean could barely hear but that he was pretty sure had something to do with hell were related to Cas and Gabe.  Those were the people who made Cas’s life hell for a few months.  Likely years.  People who had threatened him and hurt him.  The uneasy feeling in his stomach turned into an open pit that grew with each chant, each image of a board, and Gordon’s words returned to him unexpectedly.  Suddenly the screen flashed back to the anchor who said, “The same-sex marriage bill is expected to pass in the Illinois State Senate when they are next in session on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it shortly after.  We will return to the story when a decision is made.”

 

Dean turned the TV back to Saturday morning cartoons, trying to ignore the yawning void swirling in his stomach.  Somehow he had a hard time finding the frantic attempts of Wile E. Coyote funny.

 

**\--**

 

At exactly 11, Dean arrived at Gabe’s house.  Gabe opened the door before Dean was able to knock and motioned him inside, “Sam should be here any minute.  I’ve got sandwiches made up already.”

 

Dean nodded and asked, “Cas?” the void in his stomach hadn’t gone away yet and he needed to see the blue eyed man.  Needed to make sure he was okay, whole.

 

Gabe snorted, “Love you too, Dean-o.  He’s in the kitchen.”

 

Dean nodded again and pulled Gabe into a tight hug.  Gabe went silent for a moment, leaning back against the hug, “Um, you okay honeybuns?” he asked, patting Dean awkwardly on the back.

 

Dean stepped back, “I watched the news today.”

 

Gabe grinned, “ _You_ watch the _news_?”

 

“Shut-up,” Dean answered, crossing his arms.

 

Gabe sobered, “Is there something I should know?”

 

Dean shook his head then nodded, “Your brothers were mentioned.”

 

Gabe’s expression sharpened suddenly, he carefully said, “Oh?”

 

“They’re at the Illinois State Senate.  Cas, um, Cas told me why he left Illinois.”

 

“Ah,” was all Gabe said.  A clatter from the kitchen caught their attention and Gabe motioned down the hallway with his head, “Go on, I’ll wait for Sam.”

 

Dean followed the hallway to find Cas standing at the sink, washing his hands, back to Dean.  Dean exhaled at the sight of Cas’s strong muscles flexing under his thin t-shirt.  Cas was here and was okay.  He was being silly.

 

He snuck up behind Cas and wrapped strong arms around him, resting his chin on the shorter man’s shoulder.  Cas stilled for a moment then said, “Hello, Dean,” smile evident in his voice.

 

Dean nibbled at the lobe of Cas’s ear in response, sending a shiver down the man’s spine.  Dean rolled his tongue over the area he had just been nibbling on and Cas exhaled softly, tilting his head to give Dean more access.  Dean took advantage of it and dropped soft kisses down Cas’s neck, pausing to bite gently here and there.  Cas exhaled again then turned in Dean’s arm, smiling up at him.

 

Dean sighed and kissed him, dropping his hands to rest low on Cas’s spine.  Cas was here and fine and whole.  Cas broke the kiss and laughed, “At least let me dry my hands!” he said, reaching for a dish towel sitting on the counter.  Dean refused to let him go, instead dropping his forehead to rest on Cas’s shoulder.

 

Cas stilled, “Dean,” his voice was quiet, careful, “is everything alright?”

 

Dean inhaled, smelling the hint of cinnamon and warmth that was uniquely Cas.  Dean didn’t answer, instead saying, “Thursday? At 6?  I’ll pick you up here?”

 

Cas waited a moment, “Yes, Dean.  That sounds good.”

 

Dean smiled, raised his head, “Good,” he said, then captured Cas’s lips with his own.  Cas sighed into the kiss and brought his hands up to rest on Dean’s shoulders, still damp hands leaving prints on Dean’s shirt.  It started slow, with small kisses that deepened quickly.  Dean moved a hand up to tangle in Cas’s hair, tugging gently until Cas’s tilted his head back in acquiescence.  Dean dropped kisses along Cas’s neck, his collar bone.  There was nothing fast or rushed, Dean took the opportunity to breathe Cas in, assure himself that Cas was okay.  Cas’s fingers tightening on his shoulder was the only warning Dean got.

 

“Ew, guys, come on, in my kitchen?” Dean placed one last kiss to the juncture of neck and shoulder then dropped his hands from Cas’s back, turning to see Gabe, hands on hips and a mock serious expression on his face, Sam grinning wildly behind him.

 

Dean jerked his chin at Sam, “Hey, Sam,” Sam was still grinning, looking like he had just won the lottery and Cas laughed lowly then stepped from behind Dean.

 

“Sam,” Cas said calmly, “good to see you.”

 

“Good to see you too, Cas,” Sam said, nudging Gabriel forward and following the shorter man into the kitchen, “Lunch?”

 

**\--**

 

Dean readied himself to leave Gabe’s for The Roadhouse.  Lunch had been quick and comfortable and the men had talked afterwards, Dean sitting close to Cas and feeling his heart ease more.  As he shrugged into his coat and jiggled the pocket to check for his keys he saw Gabe and Sam still sitting on the couch talking softly, a slight smile on Sam’s face.  Dean caught Gabriel’s eyes and raised his eyebrows glancing once to Sam then back to Gabe.  Gabriel quirked an eyebrow in reply and looked back at Sam, face lighting up.  Cas saw the exchange and snorted lightly, rolling his eyes.

 

“Come on, Dean, I’ll walk you out to your car,” Cas said quietly, opening the front door.

 

Dean nodded at Cas, “Be there in a moment,” then he turned back to eye his brother, “Sam, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

 

Sam huffed a laugh, “That doesn’t exactly _narrow_ my options, Dean.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said, “Gabe, be good,” Gabe raised a hand in acknowledgement and Dean turned to walk out the door.

 

Cas was standing next to Baby, examining the car.  Dean felt a tingle go through him, Cas looked damn good standing next to her, he wondered what Cas would look like sitting in the passenger seat.  Or maybe stretched out and flushed with pleasure in the backseat.  Whichever.

 

As Dean came closer Cas shifted to look at him, “You have quite a lovely car, Dean.”

 

Dean grinned, “Thanks, she’s my Baby.  She belonged to Dad back in the day.”

 

Cas smiled, reaching a hand forward to take Dean’s.  Squeezing it gently he asked, “What are you planning for Thursday?”

 

Dean laughed uncomfortably, “Um, I’m not entirely sure?  What kind of food do you like?”

 

Cas squeezed his hand again, “I’m fine with anything, Dean.  Perhaps some place with a really good burger?”

 

Dean grinned, feeling something settle under his skin.  Cas may be a genius, he might be way too good for Dean, but at least there was something Dean could relate to, “Well, if you want a good burger, Cas, I can make you an awesome one.  Maybe for our third date though,” he winked, “I did ask to take you out like a _normal_ boyfriend, and I think you usually wait ‘till the third date for a sleepover.”

 

Cas laughed, “I think we may have gone well past the ‘normal’ boyfriend stage, but it will give me something to look forward to.”

 

“I know a good place just outside of town.  Doesn’t have anything on The Roadhouse, but they still make a fine burger.”

 

Cas nodded then leaned up to press a lingering kiss to Dean’s mouth before rocking back and saying, “I’ll see you on Thursday at 6 then.”

 

**\--**

 

Dean’s week felt like it moved way too slow and way too fast at the same time.  His days would seem to move so slowly that he would find himself fiddling nervously, but every night he would panic knowing that Thursday night was getting closer and closer.

 

Ellen was fully recovered by Monday and joined Dean behind the bar for the rest of the week, smile flashing and hands moving to make drinks and serve food.  He had let her know that he would be going out on a date to some place that was _not_ The Roadhouse.  Better to let her know ahead of time rather than wait and have someone tell her.

 

She had pressed her lips together, looking at him hard, then she pointed a finger at him, “Take him where you want but you had better formally introduce us soon, Dean.  Bobby has been asking about him too, you know.  And we can both still whoop your ass if need be.”

 

He laughed, “It’s only our _first date_ , Ellen.  It’s not like we’re getting _married_.”

 

Ellen started at him a moment more, “Dean, you’ve been zoning out and going all ga-ga eyes when you think no one is looking.  You’ve never done _that_ before.  I’m pretty sure that deserves at least a ‘hey, this is Ellen and Bobby, basically my surrogate parents’ from you.”

 

“Aw, Ellen, I never knew you thought that highly of me,” Dean had teased back.  But a gentle warmth settled in his gut at her words.

 

Bobby had said almost the same thing to him, telling him that he expected to meet Cas, or at least get a look at his car.  Bobby always said that you could tell a lot from a person by their car.  Dean had sighed, but agreed, fingers moving nimbly over the Mustang’s engine as they talked.  

 

Bobby continued to watch him as he worked then slowly said, “You know, Dean, I’ve been thinking.  I know a lot of people who collect cars.  Classic ones.  I’m getting too old for all the work that goes into it so I haven’t been keeping up with the clients as much as they want me to.  But you’ve got an eye for what a car needs and how to keep old cars looking their best.  And your talents are wasted on oil changes.  If you’d be interested I’d consider letting you loan out some of the garage space and I’d get the word out to my clients.”

 

Dean flushed at the unexpected praise, rubbing at the heat working its way up the back of his neck, then dropping his hand when he felt oil smearing under his fingers,  “I don’t know if I could afford to cut work at the garage, Bobby.”

 

Bobby snorted, “Idjit, you think I’d let you go that easy?  You’d have to start out slow anyway, let word get out about the work you do.  Classic car world is a bit scattered but word travels fast.  Think about it, anyway.  That Balthazar guy has already asked me if you’d be available for work on a Corvette he’s got sitting around,” Bobby shook his head, “man has too many cars to know what to do with.”

 

Dean stilled, “Balthazar, huh?”

 

Bobby nodded, not looking away, “Think on it.  Not trying to push you into anything.”

 

Dean sighed, finger running lightly over the part in his hand, not looking up, “I will.  Thanks Bobby.”

 

Bobby nodded again then turned away.  It was a sound idea, and something that Dean knew he would enjoy.  Working on classic cars always calmed him and if it was something he could make money on, all the better.  But he needed to be reasonable.  He barely had any free time with his work at Bobby’s and The Roadhouse, but it paid the bills.  Or at least most of them.  If he lost that steady income… Well, he didn’t want to think about it.

 

Dean had put it out of his mind after that, focusing on the car instead.  Cars he knew how to handle.

 

**\--**

 

Thursday morning and Dean was a nervous wreck.  He was dropping tools and even spilled a half-full container of windshield wiper fluid.  Bobby had yelled at him to go work on the Mustang until he got his head settled down.  He was on a creeper under the Mustang when Ash yelled a greeting and it startled him so much he cracked his head trying to sit up.  He cursed and rubbed at the goose egg forming on his forehead.  Ash leaned down to look under the car, face upside down.

 

“You good there, Dean-o?” he asked with a grin.

 

Dean waved him off and rolled out from under the car, “Why’re you here?” he asked, wincing when he rubbed a bit too hard at his head.

 

Ash bobbled up and down on his toes, “Bobby said there was one of those new cars with a computer system here.  Asked if I could take a look.  It’s a completely new system too, never seen it before.  Gonna be fun,”  Dean shook his head.  Ash’s definition of fun was completely skewed.

 

“Dean,” Bobby called from inside his office, “Can you come in here please.”

 

Ash wiggled his fingers, “Ooooh, what’d you do to get called into the principal's?”

 

Dean flicked Ash off and didn’t answer, turning to stride into Bobby’s office instead.

 

Balthazar was seated in Bobby’s scraggly office chair, stuffing poking up next to his leg, looking completely out of place in his fitted designer jeans and v-neck shirt.  

 

“Dean,” Bobby said, a note of warning in his voice, “Balthazar here has a proposition for you.”

 

“I’m looking to sell some of my cars and pick up some new ones,” Balthazar started without preamble, “You did such a lovely job with my Mustang, I thought you’d be willing to help me with some of my others?”

 

Dean shot a look at Bobby, sitting in the chair opposite Balthazar, “I’m sure we can work something out, Balthazar, what would I be working with?”

 

Balthazar gave Dean a rundown of cars, quite an extensive and _expensive_ rundown of cars.  Dean’s mind whirled a little at the amount of money that must have gone into Balthazar’s collection.  He started sketching out his ideas for what would be the best cars to sell, what work would have to go into each car, what he might be able to find for Balthazar, using a pad of paper he scrounged from Bobby’s desk to write down estimates and ideas.  Bobby exited the office at some point but Dean was so wrapped up in the list of cars that he barely even noticed.  Before he knew it they had a plan all worked up and a schedule for when Balthazar would bring a few of the cars in for inspection.

 

Balthazar stood up, holding out his hand to Dean for a warm handshake, “Thank you, Dean.  Now that our business is concluded, I heard that you and Castiel are going out on a date tonight?”

 

Dean stiffened, unsure what Balthazar was getting at, “Yes.”

 

Balthazar chuckled, “Good.  He needs a night away from that brother of his.  Lovely chap but _hyper_.”

 

Dean grinned at that, “Yeah, Gabe can be a handful.”

 

Balthazar studied him for a moment more, “I’m glad to be working with you, Dean.  Let me know if you hear about a car, even if I’m not interested I may have a friend or two, yeah?”

 

Dean nodded, “Sounds good.  You know how to get in touch with me.”

 

Balthazar shook his hand one more time, grip firm and warm, turned on his heel and strode out.  Dean let out a deep breath, leaning against Bobby’s desk, feeling overwhelmed.  Just the amount of cars that Balthazar wanted him to work with was unbelievable.

 

Bobby stuck his head in the office, “Dean?” he asked, stepping into the office and closing the door behind him.

 

“Thanks for the heads-up there, Bobby,” Dean said.  Knowing that he was being childish.

 

“Idjit,”  Bobby gruffed, “He just showed up.”

 

Dean nodded.  He wasn’t angry, he just hadn’t liked the surprise, hadn’t liked not knowing it was coming.  He sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair, “Yeah, I know, sorry Bobby.”

 

“So’k kid,” Bobby clapped him on the back, “You gonna go for it?”

 

Dean nodded again, “Yeah, Bobby.  I am.  You still okay with me renting out some garage space from you?”

 

Bobby hummed his agreement, “‘Course, Dean.  We’ll figure it out tomorrow.  Pretty sure you got a date you gotta get to.”

 

Dean’s heart hammered hard in his chest when he looked at the battered clock hanging in the office.  it was five to 5, basically time to clock out.  All thoughts of Balthazar and cars fled from his mind.

 

**\--**

 

_Why didn’t I figure out what to wear before_ **_now_** _?_ Dean threw his sweater on the bed, huffing in disgust.  He was an adult, he should _not_ be having this much trouble figuring out what to wear.  He had considered calling Cas and cancelling.  Chickening out, turning his lights off and watching _Star Trek IV_.  But he would remember Cas’s smile or a glance and he would snap out of it.  

 

Disgusted with himself he pulled on a soft, grey, henley.  He knew that it looked decent on him and, if nothing else, he would be comfortable.  He was fully showered, shaved, mouthwashed, cologned, and anything else he could think of.  He glanced at the clock, swore, and flew down the stairs, grabbing his coat, keys and phone on the way.  He had wasted so much time trying to figure out what to wear that he was going to be late, _way to be a teenager again_! he thought as he started Baby and pulled out of his driveway with a roar.

 

He felt even more like a teenager when he knocked on the door of Gabe’s house and somehow felt like he was about to have the door opened and a protective dad glaring at him and warning him to _make sure he got her back by 10PM or so help him they will never find you body_.

 

Instead Cas opened the door, blue eyes shining and smile large on his face.  And looking so attractive that Dean’s mind stopped working.  Dean never thought he would find waistcoats on _anyone_ attractive.  But Cas managed to pull it off.  Blue shirt that mirrored his eyes and grey waistcoat that showed off trim hips.  Dean brought his eyes back up to Cas’s face to find the man staring at him with an eyebrow raised.

 

“Dean?  Is everything okay?” he asked, grin on his face.

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “Yeah, Cas.  You look, um, you look really good,” Dean forced his hand to remain by his side, despite wanting to scrub at his face.

 

Pink tinged Cas’s cheeks and he grinned wider, “Thank you, Dean, you look wonderful as well.  Shall we go?”

 

Dean nodded, “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

“Bye, Gabe!” Cas called, already stepping out onto the stoop.

 

“Wait!” Dean heard Gabriel call from inside the house, then a clatter of footsteps, until the man showed up, huffing slightly, “You,” he said, pointing at Dean, “You had better have my little brother back home by midnight or so help me,” he waggled a finger at Dean who let out a laugh.

 

“Gabriel, please,” Cas said with a sigh.

 

Dean laughed again, “Your brother is in good hands, Gabe.  Can’t guarantee midnight though,” Dean winked at Cas who chuckled.

 

Gabe huffed and mumbled, “Yeah, yeah.  Just don’t be _noisy_.  I got work in the morning.”

  
Dean flung an arm around Cas’s shoulders, leading him towards Baby, “I guarantee nothing, Gabe!” he flung back, feeling Cas’s shoulders shake in laughter under his arm.  He grinned to himself, hearing Gabe let out a string of curses and shut the door noisily.  He leaned over to drop a kiss to Cas’s cheek.  He had a feeling this was going to be one of his best dates in a long time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. Sorry. I wanted to go further with this chapter but it was getting too long.
> 
> ALSO: I found a few errors in different chapters. I have a thing about rereading my own work. Eventually I have to stop because I want it to be perfect and it never will be and I'll miss stupid stuff. Also I have a really hard time reading any dirty stuff I've written because I think it's terrible and I get embarrassed for myself. I'm going to go back and fix the errors I found (in chapters 1, 7 and 11) so you may get notifications about that (does that happen?). I figure it's better to fix them all at once and be done with it, so I'm sorry if you get a glut of e-mails! 
> 
> If you find a grammar or spelling error, let me know, I won't mind!


	13. Chapter 13

Dean couldn’t help sneaking glances over to Cas.  He looked relaxed.  He looked good, though his hair was not as mussed as usual.  Dean decided he would have to do something to fix that.  They had been sitting in silence during the drive, but it was easy and comfortable and Dean didn’t feel the need to fill it.  They arrived at Chuck’s Bar and Grill quickly and Dean turned off Baby, listening to the engine settle.  He turned to Cas.

 

“Okay, I know it looks kind of worn down, but Chuck makes a good burger.  The Roadhouse’s is still better but…” he trailed off, not sure what else to say.  He didn’t want Cas thinking that he was uncomfortable with him while in front of his friends.  But if the date totally bombed he didn’t want anyone to see that either.

 

Cas grinned, “I’m sure it’ll be wonderful, Dean, shall we?” he reached for the door handle.

 

Dean grabbed his wrist and tugged, saying, “One second.”  When Cas turned towards him, question in his eyes, Dean leaned forward and kissed him soundly, bringing a hand up to run through Cas’s hair, mussing it slightly.  He pulled back to see Cas sitting, stunned, and grinned at his work.  Cas now had his total sex hair back.

 

“‘K, we can go now,” he said, and hopped out of the car quickly.

 

It took Cas a moment to catch up, trying to push his hair back down, mock scowl on his face.  He leaned up and whispered, “You don’t play fair, Winchester,” then dropped a kiss behind Dean’s ear.

 

Dean huffed a laugh, holding the door to the restaurant open and gesturing Cas inside, “Neither do you, can’t blame me for trying to even the odds a little.”

 

Cas laughed lowly and walked through the door, grabbing a handful of Dean’s ass as he did.

 

**\--**

 

They were seated quickly.  Chuck’s was always busy but Dean had never seen it so full that they had a wait.  The hostess left them with two menus and a few lingering looks at Cas.  Dean wanted to be jealous but he knew he hadn’t done much better when he was in her position.  

 

Cas started skimming the menu and Dean took a cursory glance at his to have something to do with his hands.  Now that they were seated across from each other in the low light of the restaurant, Dean’s nerves were coming back.

 

He glanced up and saw a familiar face making her way through the tables, an apron wrapped around her waist.  He almost banged his head on the table in despair.

 

“Oh fucking hell, okay Cas, sorry for what you’re about to deal with.  Just… try not to talk, okay?”  Cas gave him a confused look over the top of the menu.  Dean tried to put a neutral look on his face as Becky Rosen approached.  He was pretty sure he failed.

 

“O.M.G., DEAN!  Hi!”

 

“Hi, Becky,” Dean said, trying to unclench his teeth.

 

“I haven’t seen you in _soooo_ long, how’s Sam?”

 

“He’s fine, Becky,” he brought his menu up, hoping she would get the hint.  She didn’t

 

“Is he seeing anyone?” she asked, worry evident on her face.

 

Dean _almost_ lied to her.  Almost, “Not that I know of, Becky,” he sighed.

 

Cas cleared his throat, “Actually, Dean, I believe he has something planned with Gabriel this weekend.”

 

Dean started at the news, “Wait, what?  He does?  Those little shits.  Neither of them felt the need to tell me, huh?”

 

Becky was staring at Cas, her face a weird mix of stricken and awed, “Gabrielle?  Who’s she?”

 

Cas looked at her, face blank, “ _Gabriel_ , he’s my brother.”

 

Becky’s face fell and she let out a breathless little, “oh” and Dean felt a knot grow in his stomach.  He felt a little bad for her.

 

Then she perked up, “Well, that’s okay.  I’m with Chuck now.  So it’s fine!” he couldn’t tell if her voice held a hint of hysteria or if that was just his imagination.

 

Dean nodded, trying to figure out the easiest way to get her away from the table, then the perfect solution came to him, “Can I get a beer, please, Becky?  Whatever you have on tap is fine.  Cas?”

 

Cas glanced at Dean then up to Becky, “A beer for me is fine as well, thank you.”

 

Becky nodded, and turned on her heel, heading to the bar quickly.

 

Dean sighed, watching her go, “Sorry, Cas.”

 

Cas shrugged, “It’s okay, Dean.  Balthazar said that he worked something out with you?  Something about his car collection?”

 

Dean brought his gaze back to Cas, “Ha, yeah.  Man has cars coming out of his ass and, according to him, they all need bodywork.  He’s going to bring some in next week for me to take a look at.  Didn’t know professors made that kind of cash.”

 

Cas shook his head, a grin on his face, “We don’t.  Balthazar comes from money.  Zachariah, another tenure-track professor, felt the need to tell me _all_ about it.”

 

“Zachariah?  Okay, Cas, don’t take this the wrong way but what is it with religion professors and weird names?  I mean, Balthazar, Zachariah, Castiel,” he finished, gesturing at the man.

 

Cas laughed warmly, “I’m not sure.  Our chair’s name is Susan, if that makes you feel any better.”

 

Dean grinned, “A little, I guess.  So what’s this Zach’s story?”

 

Cas made a face, “Don’t let him hear you call him that.  I’m actually up for tenure against him.  He was hired two years ago by the old chair, I guess.  Susan all but told me that she cannot stand the man.  I guess the old chair and a few of his cronies in the department pushed the hire through.  He would be coming up for tenure this year but he’s taking the year off for ‘research purposes’” Cas made quotes with his fingers and Dean stifled a laugh, not believing that he was on a date with a terribly beautiful man who used _air quotes_.

 

“The man is a pompous ass.  He’s offered to show me around the university multiple times, mentioning every time how likely it is that I’ll get lost, and seems to think that since he’s been working longer than I have that he has seniority.  He even asked me to do some of his copying, since I have ‘so much extra time’,” there were the air quotes again, “I have a feeling that his leave is because he’s hoping to come up with some brilliant paper to show off when he’s up for tenure,” Cas shrugged, “from his other papers I’m unsure he’ll be able to come up with anything sufficient.”

 

Cas quieted, suddenly looking a little ashamed, “I’m sorry, Dean, I suppose I shouldn’t be so hard on the man.  I haven’t seen him teach, so he may be a wonderful professor.”

 

Dean grinned, “Dude, sometimes you just gotta let it all out, I don’t mind,” an answering smile started to bloom on Cas’s face just as Becky stepped up to drop off the drinks.

 

She plopped the drinks on the table and looked back and forth between them.  Her eyes suddenly widened, “Wait,” she breathed in awe, “Are you two, like, _together_?”

 

**\--**

 

After Dean managed to calm Becky down and made her leave the table so they had a chance to pick out what they wanted to eat he turned to Cas, “I’m sorry, Cas.  I honestly forgot she worked here.  She’s been kind of fascinated with us, um, mostly Sam, since she met us.  Not sure why.”

 

Cas was staring at him, blue eyes bright and smiling, “I think I can take a guess.”

 

Dean felt a flush rise to his cheeks and he raised his menu to hide it, he cleared his throat, “So, um, what were you thinking of getting?”

 

“Cheeseburger,” Cas said, and Dean could swear he could hear the grin in Cas’s voice.

 

Dean hummed, “Good choice,” he floundered for a moment, unsure what to say.  All of his fears rose to the surface, almost choking him.  What was he doing here, sitting across from this beautiful man who was far too good for him?  What made him think this would work.

 

Thankfully Becky chose that moment to return, eyes bright as she looked between them and bouncing on her toes as if she had been holding back her excitement and was letting it show now that she was back at their table.  Cas did, indeed order the cheeseburger and Dean ordered the bacon burger.  When she left the uncertainty returned.  Dean took a sip of his beer to hide his sudden nervousness, no longer having the menu to hide behind.

 

Cas cleared his throat, catching Dean’s eye “Did you always want to be a mechanic?”

 

An easy first-date question.  Dean relaxed, “Nah.  I wanted to be a rockstar for a little while, who doesn’t though, right?  For a few years after my mom died I wanted to be a fireman,” and fuck his life, he wanted to put his head in his hands and groan. He'd never told anyone that, not even Sam. And Dean is pretty sure Cas doesn't know how his mom died. Or maybe he does because maybe Gabriel told him. Either way, it's a lot to put on someone on a first date. But Cas doesn't look spooked. Is just sitting there, a small smile touching one corner of his lips.  Dean hesitates for a moment, looking to see if Cas will push him for more information.  When he doesn’t Dean feels his shoulders relax and he continues, “I’ve always loved cars though.  Especially working with the old ones.  There’s something about finding a car that everyone else has given up on and bringing her back so that she’s beautiful again.”

 

Cas smiled, looking at him, eyes soft, “From what Balthazar says, you’re good.”

 

Dean shrugged, “I understand cars.  So, how about you, did you always want to be a religion professor?”

 

Cas shook his head, smiling, “I don’t think _anyone_ wants to be a professor when they grow up,” Cas hesitated, and he looked like he was weighing his answer, then he said, “When I was a kid I wanted to be an angel, honestly.  They sounded so cool the way my parents described them.  You know that they aren’t the cute little kids with fluffy wings, right?  They’re God’s warriors, and some have multiple heads and wings, they are far too much for a human mind to comprehend.  After my father and then my mother, I kind of lost my interest in any belief systems.  Then as a freshman I took a few classes in religion, mostly to appease my brothers.  I think they were hoping I would join their church,” a rueful look came over Cas’s face and Dean let him stay silent for a moment.

 

Cas finally continued, “To my surprise I enjoyed the courses.  Found the history of religion fascinating.  I took more courses, became interested in the history of religion in America and before I knew it I had a Masters, then a second, then a Ph.D. and I was teaching classes.  I kind of fell into teaching, I guess.  But I enjoy it immensely,” Cas smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners.  Dean knew that once classes started this man would have a gaggle of lovesick students following him around.

 

Suddenly Dean realized something, “Classes start next week, right?  What’s your schedule?  It’s classes every other day, or at least that’s what Sam has.”

 

Cas swallowed a sip of beer, nodding, “Yeah, I work Mondays and Wednesdays.  I’ve got a class that starts just after eleven and one that starts just after four.  I’m done by 5:50.  It’s kind of perfect because I can hold office hours between the two classes and don’t have to stay late.  Since I’ll be up for tenure I’m expected to attend meetings and pick up committee work, but that shouldn’t be too terrible.  I’ll probably be there most days during the week, until at least 5” Cas took another sip of his beer then grinned, “wait, are you trying to get _my_ schedule now?”

 

Dean rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling the tips of his ears warm, “No, of course not, I was just curious.”

 

Cas hummed, pleased.  Dean hesitated for a moment, not sure if he was about to be way too forward, he wasn’t even sure about this himself.  He hadn’t worked out the numbers, figured out if he could afford to do what he was thinking.  He said everything in a rush, fiddling with his mostly empty beer glass rather than looking at Cas, “With the work that Balthazar has for me I was considering taking a few nights off from The Roadhouse.  With all the students coming back into town Ellen won’t have any problem finding help and it might be nice to have a break every once in awhile.”

 

When Cas didn’t say anything Dean glanced up to find the man studying his face, “Dean, you work so much and I think a break would be good for you, but please don’t do it on my account.  I am more than happy to spend what time I can with you on your schedule.  There’s no reason to change it if you don’t want to.”

 

Dean shrugged, dropping his eyes again, “Like I said, nothing’s set in stone.  Still haven’t even brought it up with Ellen yet.”

 

Becky dropped their food off and Dean jumped at the clunk of plate on table.  It broke the odd tension that had gathered around the table.  She placed her hands on her hips, looking between them, “Need anything else, maybe a refill, Dean?”

 

Dean shook his head, “Just water from now on, I’m driving, Cas?”

 

Cas hesitated, eyes searching Dean’s face.   Then he nodded, “Sure, one more for me, please.”

 

She nodded, reaching over to grab Cas’s empty mug and wandered off.  Silence descended over the table again but Dean found that he was comfortable with it, the burgers in front of them looked good.  He watched as Cas popped a fry into his mouth and chewed carefully, small smile blooming on his face.

 

“Good?” Dean asked.  At Cas’s nod, Dean said, “good,” again, then dug into his own burger.  Call him biased, the burgers were good but they still had nothing on The Roadhouse’s burgers.

 

**\--**

 

The night had been easy after that.  Dean would have worried, scared that the shoe was going to drop any second, that Cas would pull back, would stop smiling at him.  But that feeling never came.  He found how easy it was to talk with Cas.  Cas never pushed him to say more than he wanted and Dean found himself relaxing, feeling something in his chest ease.

 

As they were getting ready to leave, Chuck came up to the table, looking worn out.  He smiled at Dean wanly, “Dean, it’s good to see you.  I wanted to stop by and make sure that everything was okay.”

 

Dean nodded, “Hey, Chuck.  Yeah, everything was good, how are you?”

 

Chuck just looked at him for a second then seemed to shake out of it, “Um, good, I’m tired.  Running a restaurant is _hard_.”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, “Yeah, I can imagine.  Chuck this is Castiel, my um,” he wasn’t really sure what Cas was, what Cas wanted to be.  Finally he went with basic as possible, “my date.”

 

He glanced a look at Cas, who just smiled back at him.

 

Chuck fluttered his hand in a nervous wave, “Castiel, nice to meet you.  I’ll let you guys leave, give Ellen and Jo my best.”

 

Dean nodded and they stood up, Chuck hovering nervously, wringing his hands and giving Dean plaintive looks, until they were both out the door.

 

**\--**

 

The drive back to Gabriel’s was just as quick as the drive to Chuck’s.  Before Dean knew it they were sitting in front of the house staring at the bright windows throwing light onto the lawn.  

 

Dean grinned, “I think this is where I walk you to your front door so Gabe can see that you’re back safe and sound.”

 

Cas pushed out a breath, “Or you could just take me home with you.”

 

Dean sucked air through his teeth at that statement,surprised, and felt his body tighten at the suggestion.   _Fuck_.  He forced himself to take another breath and stop and think. It was something he hadn’t _stopped_ thinking about since that first morning, but...

 

“Cas, I would like nothing better, believe me…” he hesitated, not sure how to put the thoughts that were spinning around in his head into words.

 

“But?” Cas prompted.

 

Dean sighed, opened his mouth, closed it again, “You’re… you are,” Dean stopped, trying to think of some way to make this understandable and not entirely creepy.  He looked at his hands, wrapped around Baby’s steering wheel.  His knuckles were stark white.  He sighed and flexed his fingers.  Watching the blood creep back in he said, “Most of my dates, the good ones at least, ended in bed,” he hears rustling and knew that Cas was probably shifting, whether to more fully face him or to get out of the car, Dean wasn’t sure and pressed on, “But that’s also usually where they ended.  Or we’d have a few dates that all ended in bed, then it would be over.  The one real relationship I’ve been in,” Cassie’s sweet smile flashed in his head, but there was no accompanying feeling, good or bad, not even numbness, just acceptance, “we were friends first.  And… I dunno, I was kind of hoping that if I took you on a real date, that didn’t end in bed right away, that I could have that again,” he gave a humorless laugh, “although I suppose we already ended up in bed without even going on a date, so that plan’s kinda shot to hell, huh?” Dean hoped that his flush was hidden in the dark.

 

He wasn’t sure if Cas was going to bolt at this admission.  Wasn’t sure about a lot of things.  He was rethinking taking Cas home.  Shit, his dreams had been flooded with images of Cas naked and flushed under him and he had woken up aching and hard every time.  He would give almost anything to experience that in the real world again.

 

He heard the rustling again and a hand came to rest on his arm, warm through the leather of his jacket.  “Dean,” Cas’s voice was soft, reverent almost and it startled Dean into looking at him.  Cas’s eyes were roaming his face, and Dean wasn't sure what he saw there but a bright smile suddenly lit his face, “I think I like your plan, Dean.”

 

Dean huffed a laugh, feeling tension drain from his shoulders, “Yeah, well when you look at me like that it’s really kinda hard to stick to my plan, Cas.”

 

Cas still had a grin on his face, “Come on, Dean.  Walk me to the door and help me scandalize my brother.”

 

**\--**

 

Gabe did look properly scandalized when he finally opened the front door with a shout of, “Seriously, how are your lips not numb yet?!  What, does Dean’s mouth taste like candy or something?”

 

Cas broke their kiss with a laugh, not moving his hands from Dean’s ass though.  He dropped his head to rest on Dean’s shoulder, still chuckling.

 

Dean glanced at Gabriel, whose face had settled into a happy smile, eyes resting on his brother.  Dean smiled at the look, “At least I have him back before midnight, Gabe.”

 

Gabriel’s eyes jumped to Dean and his look morphed into one of exaggerated sternness, “Um, no, you don’t.  You _were_ back before midnight, until you decided to spend, like, 20 minutes macking on my front step.”

 

“ _What?_ ” Dean asked, surprised.  He glanced over Cas’s shoulder at his watch, barely 11.

 

Gabriel winked at him, “Gotcha, but seriously, you’re gonna get the cops called on you for, like, indecent behavior.  Is that even a thing?  Ohh, we should call Sam and ask if you can be arrested for indecent behavior.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes at that and took a step back, feeling Cas’s hands linger for a moment longer, then drop.  He got caught in the blue of Cas’s gaze and smiled, “Tonight was good Cas, let me know if you want to do it again.”

 

Cas laughed lowly and Dean could practically hear Gabriel roll his eyes when he said, “Ugh, I’m gonna get a cavity from you saps.”

 

“Pretty sure that cavity is from the shit ton of candy you eat, Gabe,” Dean said raising his voice, not looking away from Cas.  He bowed his head to give Cas one last kiss, lingering a little at the taste, “I’ll talk to you later, Cas,” he turned to Gabe, jerked his chin in acknowledgement, “bye, dude.  You break Sam’s heart and they’ll never find your body.”

 

The look of shock on Gabriel’s face was totally worth it.

 

**\--**

 

 

He was in flannel pajama pants, teeth brushed, and getting ready for bed when his cell rang.  Cas’s name flashed on the screen and he hesitated a moment before answering, worried that Cas had perhaps thought better of Dean’s confession.  Decided that he couldn’t put up with Dean anymore.

 

“Cas, did you forget something in my car or something?” Dean winced at his awkward phrasing.

 

A low laugh came over the line, “No Dean, are you home?”

 

Dean instantly relaxed at the laugh, “Yeah Cas, just getting ready for bed.”

 

“Mmmm, good,” Cas’s voice was off, it had a breathy quality about it, and Dean felt the air still in his lungs at the sound.

 

“Cas?”

 

“Yes, Dean?” Cas’s voice was still breathy.

 

“Um, is everything okay?” Dean didn’t want to assume anything.

 

Cas hummed lowly, and Dean could hear something moving in the background, “Yes, Dean, everything is quite good at the moment.  Do you know that you are an insufferably stubborn man?”

 

Cas’s tone of voice didn’t change with the last question, startling a laugh out of Dean.  He rubbed at his stomach, stretching out in bed “Yeah, Cas, I’ve been told something similar before.”

 

“You know that I’ve been thinking about you since last week, couldn’t help myself, really,” Cas continued, voice still breathy, “How you looked when I had my mouth on you.  Your face just before you came.  You are beautiful, you know,” Dean sat up quickly at that, body tightening.  A low moan over the line solidified his jumbled thoughts and he was left reeling.  A gasp brought him back to himself.

 

“Cas.  Christ, Cas, are you…”

 

“Touching myself while thinking about how gorgeous you are?  Mmm, yes, I am.”

 

“Holy shit,” Dean breathed the words out.

 

Cas’s breath came faster now, “Touch yourself for me?” it wasn’t a command, not even a little bit, but Dean rushed to comply.

 

His dick was already straining against his boxers.  He yanked them down, wrapped a hand around himself, pumped once, gasped at the feeling.  Cas groaned, “You make the prettiest sounds, Dean.  Keep making them?” a question again, not a hint of a commanding tone.

 

Dean moaned as he palmed the head of his dick, spreading the slickness onto his hand, then started stroking himself again, “Only if you let me hear you, too.”

 

Cas inhaled, took a second to answer, “Gabriel’s not asleep yet, I,” a light hum, his voice was even breathier, “I can’t be too loud.”

 

“You just need to be loud enough for me, Cas,” Dean said, imagining the man spread out on the bed, hand circling his beautiful dick, other hand gripping the sheets.

 

Dean picked up the pace, already incredibly close and, from the noises coming over the line, Cas was too, “Wanna taste you, Cas,” Dean’s voice came out _way_ more wrecked than he thought it would.

 

It had the desired effect though, Cas gasped then moaned, “Fuck, Dean, you need to come for me now, please.”

 

That was _almost_ a command, and Dean obeyed, gasping Cas’s name over and over again.

 

He stroked himself through the last of his orgasm, slowly coming down.  His chest was painted in white stripes and he wrinkled his nose, “Damn it, I’m gonna have to shower again.”

 

Cas laughed at that, “Sorry?  I’d say me too but I thought ahead,” Dean heard more rustling on the other end of the line, and he could imagine Cas swiping and his stomach and chest with a towel.

 

“Yeah, well, you kind of had advanced knowledge,” Dean grouched.

 

Sound over the line stilled suddenly then Cas said quietly, “This was okay?  I didn’t overstep or anything?”

 

Dean laughed and stretched onto his back again, ignoring the sticky mess on his stomach, “No, Cas, that was perfect.  I’m just grouchy ‘cause I can’t be there to help clean you up.”

 

He could hear the grin in Cas’s voice, “That would be nice, but it was difficult enough staying quiet over the phone, I think Gabriel would have been unhappy with us.”

 

“Yeah, but the little bastard could use it.  Gives me enough grief, after all.”

 

He heard Cas chuckle, then yawn loudly.  On cue Dean yawned too, “Fuck, Cas, you wore me out.  I think it’s time for bed.”

 

Cas gave a sleepy murmur of agreement, “Go take a shower, Dean, I’ll call you tomorrow?"

 

Dean nodded, “Yeah, Cas, that would be good.  Night.”

 

“Mm, good night Dean, sweet dreams,” Dean was totally not imagining the smirk in Cas’s voice.

  
He sat for a moment, silent phone resting against his shoulder.  Another jaw cracking yawn hit him and he heaved himself out of bed, grinning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm really bad at dialogue, especially dirty stuff, sorry. I know all the communication is out of character, but I really like communication. I think I'm gonna say that this story is a communication AU.
> 
> Also, sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out and that this chapter is on the shorter side. A family friend of mine passed away a little while ago and I really didn't feel up to writing. Cancer needs to have its ass kicked.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't done the final review of this for grammar or other problems, sorry if there are issues.

Sitting in Bobby’s office on his lunch break on Friday Dean found himself absently working out numbers, how much he still owed, how much he would get from Balthazar, how much he would lose if he dropped two nights from The Roadhouse. He didn’t think Ellen would have a problem with it. At least once a week she’d badger him about taking some time off. Maybe this would get her off his back.

If he was careful, really careful, he could work it out. He had a very small amount of money sitting in a savings account that he could use for stuff with Cas. Once the work with Balthazar got underway he should be able to continue paying most of his bills. He knew it was a bit of a risk, but he didn’t have a family or anything besides Sam. And it wasn’t like Sam needed him anymore, anyway.

Before he could chicken out he called Ellen and asked for Mondays off, just Mondays for now.

“Everything okay, Dean?” she asked, a hint of suspicion coloring her words.

“Yes, why?” Dean couldn’t keep the annoyance from his voice. People were asking if he was okay far too often lately.

“Well, the last time you asked for less days was right after John died. Don’t get me wrong, kid, I think your need it, but this is unusual for you.”

“Everything’s fine, Ellen. I’ve got someone who wants me to work on a bunch of cars is all and I would like the extra night in case I need to stay late,” she didn’t need to know his real reason.

“Mhmm,” Ellen wasn’t fooled, but all she said was, “Okay, you’re off the schedule starting this Monday. This is good, I’ve had about 50 kids in here droppin’ off resumes and lookin’ for jobs and I’ve hired a few, you can do training tomorrow and Sunday and Jo can train some of ‘em this Monday. I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

His heart thundered in his chest as he said goodbye to Ellen and snapped his phone shut. Had he really just taken a night off of work for a guy? Jesus he was in way over his head.

\--

Later that day Balthazar dropped off the first car, an incredibly elegant woman following behind him in a sleek Rolls Royce Wraith. Elliot, a part-timer working on some scheduled oil changes widened his eyes and whistled at the car, then again when the woman stepped out, low and awe-struck. Elliot’s eyes were practically popping out of his head as the woman strode towards Balthazar, an understated black dress hugging her figure and her heels far too high for how confidently she was walking on the uneven gravel of the lot. Balthazar himself was dressed in a suit and bowtie, and looked just as comfortable in those as he had in his low-slung v-necks he seemed to favor.

Dean, however, only had eyes for the SS Chevelle that Balthazar had stepped out of. If his memory was right this was one of the cars that was in better shape. One of the few that Balthazar had said wouldn’t need a tow. He started cataloguing what needed to be checked and what needed to be done as he got a look at her, but from what he could see the car could turn out beautiful.

Dean’s eyes caught movement and he glanced to see Balthazar giving Elliot a strange look. “Put your goddamn tongue back in your mouth, El,” Dean growled to Elliot out of the corner of his mouth. He saw the man visibly start and straighten up, then nodded and strode forward to shake Balthazar’s hand.

“Sorry it’s so late on a Friday, Dean. We’re headed out and I didn’t have time to drop her off earlier.”

Dean nodded, “Not a problem. I can get a look at her tomorrow and let you know what I think, give you a better estimate on her.”

The woman ran a hand up Balthazar’s shoulder and kissed him lightly on the cheek, then looked at Dean, “Why is it that cars and boats are referred to as ‘she’?” she purred, with a light British accent.

Dean pulled his eyes away from the car to look at the woman, dark straight hair, impeccable make-up, and striking green eyes that were, at the moment, roving over Dean’s body hungrily. He crossed his arms, uncomfortable with the inspection, “Not entirely sure, there are lots of theories out there. I’ve just always called them ‘she’ and it’s a difficult habit to break.”

Balthazar laughed, “Sorry, Dean, this is Bela. Collector of rare and exotic items.”

Bela’s mouth twitched up in a smile, “Mmm, except for cars, love.”

Balthazar dipped his head in acknowledgement.

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Bella? Like the girl from Twilight?”

Bela bared her teeth in a smile, “Like Lugosi.”

“Ah,” Dean floundered for something to say after that, before his mind went back to the car that she had been driving, “Not a collector of cars, maybe, but,” he gestured towards the Wraith.

“Well, I do like to surround myself with the best,” she ran her eyes up Dean’s body once more, not trying to hide what she was doing.

Dean hunched his shoulders, and Bela grinned at the movement. Balthazar eyes twinkled, “Dean, when do you think you can get me a full estimate?”

Dean was grateful for the change in subject, “If you want to do it now I can get you one in a little under an hour. I can take care of it tomorrow, but if you’d rather be here so I can explain everything I can take care of it on Monday.”

Balthazar shook his head, “I don’t think that will be necessary, just an itemized list is fine.”

Dean nodded, “I’ll have it ready for you tomorrow, then.”

“Sounds good, thank you, Dean,” Balthazar offered his hand for a last handshake and Dean took it, finalizing the deal.

Bela held her hand out as well and Dean took her hand, surprised to feel callouses on her palm. Her grip was warm and strong, “It was so nice to meet you, Dean,” her voice held the purr again.

Dean nodded, “You as well.”

He watched as Balthazar and Bela walked back to the Wraith. Bela leaned up and whispered something in Balthazar’s ear, earning a laugh from the man. Elliot sidled up to Dean as the Wraith started and pulled out of the lot.

“Jesus, Dean,” Elliot said.

Dean grunted in acknowledgement, eyes cataloguing the SS Chevelle. Some dents and dings, some scratches in the paint. He’d need to get a notebook to take notes and make calculations, but it looked like the car would need some body work at the very least. He’d move it before leaving and get a chance to feel the car out.

He grinned and turned to clap Elliot on the shoulder, “Come on, El, let’s finish up those oil changes.”

\--

Later that night, while he was on a quick breather at The Roadhouse, he texted Cas

>> What r u doing Mon night

He hated texting. Hated fumbling with the buttons on his phone. But he was far too chickenshit to do this over the phone.

Cas answered back almost immediately

>> Nothing, Dean. Why?

Dean grinned, of-fucking-course Cas’s texting was perfect.

>> Dinner? 6?

Cas’s answer was short.

>> Yes.

Dean snapped his phone shut. He’d have to tell Cas this weekend that this was no regular dinner. Bobby had reiterated his wish, command really, that he meet Cas. Then had immediately mentioned that he was planning on cooking out Monday, probably the last time before the weather turned too cold. How Bobby somehow knew that Dean didn’t work Mondays anymore, especially when he had not seen him anywhere near a phone, Dean had no idea. Dean also wasn’t stupid, he had caught the hint. Whenever Bobby cooked out it meant that Dean made the burgers and Bobby the ribs. Dean grinned. He’d have to take Cas on that second date before Monday.

\--

Finishing up his notes on the car Saturday afternoon, an idea came to Dean. If Cas was anything like Sam, he would be panicking about school starting the next week. He could use some relaxing. Dean grinned as he flipped his phone open and called Gabriel.

“Dean! To what do I owe the pleasure, hmm?” Gabriel sounded chipper on the phone and Dean narrowed his eyes.

“Do I want to know why you’re so happy, Gabe?”

A joyful laugh rang over the line, “It involves your brother, so I think not,” Gabe sounded happy with himself, “though I’m more than happy to give specifics.”

Dean could practically see the leer on Gabe’s face and shuddered, “No, thank you. He handling school starting okay?”

“I think we found some good ways to help him relax.”

Dean felt himself gag, “Gross, Gabe, come on,” but he suddenly felt like a shit brother. He hadn’t thought about Sam or what he might be feeling. Fuck. He was going to have to do something special for Sammy soon. 

He came back to himself when Gabe continued, “So what’s up, Dean-o, not that I mind the call.”

Dean ignored the question for a moment, “How’s Cas?”

“Worried about Monday. He keeps running around, checking on all his notes and paperwork.”

“Is everything ready to go?” Dean had a plan but if Cas still needed to do things for Monday the plan wouldn’t work.

Gabe sighed, “Yes, he’s just anxious.”

Dean grinned and set about explaining his plan to Gabe.

\--

Dean groaned when his alarm went off Sunday morning, rolling over and slapping it into silence. He lay in bed for a moment trying to figure out why, exactly, he had set an alarm for Sunday morning. Last night hadn’t been as bad as he had expected. The woman Ellen hired had worked at a bar before and just needed to be shown where everything was, so Dean hadn’t had to do much actual training. He’d still gotten some pretty good tips though. And the bar had been busy enough that they had a late night cleaning. It took his tired brain a few minutes to wake up to the point that he remembered why he had set an alarm. His plans with Cas.

His heart thundered in his chest. He hadn’t actually told Cas what his plans were, had just mentioned it to Gabe, who had enthusiastically supported Dean’s plans and had agreed to help. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if his plans didn’t work. He sat in bed a few more moments, waiting for his heart to slow its beating. Then popped out of bed to get ready.

\--

11:20 found Dean sitting in his car in front of Gabriel’s house trying to talk himself into going through with this. He had never, in his life, been this incredibly cheesy, even with Cassie. It was a bad idea, this was totally a bad idea, what was he even thinking? Cas was going to laugh in his face. He panicked for the next 9 minutes, fingers moving from the steering wheel to his keys then back to the steering wheel. A woman walked by and glanced nervously at the car before hurrying along. Dean laughed bitterly at himself. Feeling a knot form in his chest, made his fingers release the steering wheel and got out of the car. Gabriel had told him to get there at 11:30 on the dot, after all.

It was a perfect day, the air smelled of fall, the sun was shining but a breeze kept everything cool. Dean took a deep breath, enjoying the scent and walked up, pausing at the front door. Gabe had told him to just walk in, but it felt odd. Dean took one more deep breath, this time telling himself to calm down, and walked inside then almost stumbled back in surprise. Gabriel was standing right in front of the door.

“You are so lucky my little brother is distracted or he would have noticed your car sitting there for 10 minutes. Here, take this, their Cassie’s favorite,” Gabe shoved a Tupperware container into Dean’s hands, and Dean was about to ask what Gabe was talking about when Gabe cut him off, “I made them last night, so they’re fresh, and you better appreciate how difficult it was to keep them out of his hands for an entire day,” Gabe waggled a finger in Dean’s face as he talked, then turned and called out, “Oh, Cassieeeeeeeee”

“Gabriel,” Cas’s voice came from upstairs and Dean saw the man turn the corner and start down the stairs, looking intently at a piece of paper in his hands, “Have you seen my thumb drive? I want to go through the lecture one more, oh,” Cas had looked up and seen Dean. A grin broke over his face and heat flooded Dean’s body, “Dean, hi,” Cas said, “Are you here to see me?” Cas looked between Dean and Gabe, confusion on his face.

Dean stepped forward, “Yeah, Cas, I was hoping you had some time to do something today?”

Cas wrinkled his brow, “Well,” he looked down at the piece of paper in his hand.  
Gabe sighed, “Cas, you’ve read me your first lecture 50 times today, even though I stopped listening around the third time. You have extra copies of your syllabi, you literally have everything laid out on the table and you’ve practiced handing them out in the correct order all weekend. I think you could use a little break. Plus, Cassie, you’re my brother and I love you but I could really use a break on hearing the importance of understanding the history of religion and why how it helps us understand modern life.”

Dean wanted to stay silent. Wanted this to be Cas’s decision but he was so happy to see the other man again that he couldn’t make himself shut up, “You can give me the lecture,”

Both Cas and Gabe turned to face him and Dean resisted the urge to hunch his shoulders, turning it into a shrug instead, “I can’t guarantee that I’ll understand it, but I won’t mind.”

A huge smile bloomed on Gabriel’s face, and he turned towards Cas, “See, that, right there, that is true love.”

Dean blanched at Gabe’s words and his eyes darted to Cas, but the man was just giving him an inscrutable look, “You really don’t mind, Dean?”

Dean shrugged again, “I’ve done it often enough for Sammy, I don’t mind.”

Cas hesitated a moment more then nodded once, “That would be nice, Dean, thank you, just let me gather a few things.”

Cas turned and Gabe called, “Dress warm!”

Cas looked back once, confusion on his face, but when he came down a few minutes later he was dressed in a thick sweater and had his coat slung over his arm.

\--

Cas was quiet on the drive, but didn’t look concerned. He hadn’t asked Dean once what they were doing, just seemed content to sit in the passenger seat. Dean had calmed down a bit, Cas was in the car with him and all was well. Then he remembered something.

“So, I want to fill you in about tomorrow night, you can still back out if you want.”

Cas faced him, “Why would I want to back out?”

Dean just spit it out, like ripping off a band aid, “Bobby wants to meet you. He invited the two of us over for a cookout. Sam will probably be there too, maybe Gabriel if Sam um, decides to bring him.”

A line formed between Cas’s eyes, “Your boss wants to meet me?”

“Oh, I guess Gabe didn’t really tell you everything, huh?”

“He told me you and Sam had a difficult childhood but not much else.”

Dean snorted, “Understatement of the century,” he said underneath his breath, then louder, “Well, Bobby’s kind of a surrogate father to us. He’s my boss, yeah, but he’s more than that. He kind of demanded he meet you after he found out we were dating actually.”

“Oh,” was all Cas said and Dean let him leave it at that for a few minutes until the silence became too much.

“You can still back out if you want, I know the ‘meet the parents’ dinner is never fun and it’s not like we’ve been going out for that long or anything,” Dean shut his mouth with a snap when Cas raised his hand.

“No, Dean, dinner on Monday with Bobby sounds good. Is there…” Cas hesitated, “anyone else I should be aware of in your surrogate family.”

Dean snorted, “Try everyone in town, no one can really keep to themselves,” Cas grinned and he went on, “Nah, Ellen, she owns The Roadhouse, is kind of a surrogate parent, Jo is basically my sister. Ellen wants to meet you too, though Bobby may let her know about the cookout in which case you’ll have to deal with both of them.”

Cas was quiet for a moment, “Does this mean that Monday will technically be our third date?”

Dean choked, “Well, I will be in charge of the burgers, and I did promise to make you my famous burger on our third date, so I guess that it kinda will be.”

Cas’s answering grin was worth it.

\--

As Dean drove out of town Cas shifted in his seat and Dean laughed, “Don’t worry, we aren’t going much farther. I have work tonight, after all, so I can’t stay out too long.”

A little further down the road he turned down an overgrown dirt track. It had been a little while since he had been down here, but nothing his Baby couldn’t handle. He’d give her a good cleaning on Monday.

He got to the tree and it was just as he remembered it. The leaves hadn’t started to turn yet, but the smell of fall was still there and he inhaled as he stepped out, remembering to grab the Tupperware full of “Cas’s favorite” from the back seat.

Cas stepped out of the car slowly, looking around. He glanced at Dean and smiled widely. Dean felt an answering smile on his face and he huffed out a breath at his foolishness. He juggled the Tupperware as he opened the trunk and reached in to grab what was back there. Cas came around to offer a hand but stopped when he saw the trunk.

His smile widened even more, “Did you bring me on a picnic?” he asked, voice delighted.

Dean felt his ears grow warm and he rubbed at the back of his neck, “Yeah, this is okay?”

Cas chuckled, and shook his head, “Yes, Dean, this is perfect.”

\--

They set up the blanket Dean brought under the tree and moved their way quickly through lunch, simple sandwiches with grapes and chips and carrot sticks on the side. They were working on dessert, which turned out to be ginger cookies, Cas’s favorite. Cas groaned when Dean opened the Tupperware and said, “So that’s why Gabriel was so insistent on keeping me away from these last night.”

Dean snorted, “Yeah, he told me he’d take care of dessert when I brought up the idea of a picnic.”

The cookies were spicy and reminded Dean of Cas somehow. He took another cookie and left the rest to Cas, laying back on the blanket with a sigh, looking up at the tree. It was only 1:30, they still had a little while. After a moment, Cas lay back too, still chewing on the last cookie.

“Where are we, anyway?” Cas asked.

Dean felt his shoulders tense, but he took a deep breath and let the tension ease from his body, “Technically we’re in part of a preserve. This actually used to be a, well a sort of, ritual,” Dean turned his head to look at Cas, “My mom, she was a school teacher, second grade,” Cas nodded and Dean continued, “well, she’d stay home with me all summer. Then September would come and she would be getting ready to go back to school. So on the weekend before school started, we’d have a picnic out here. Kind of a last reminder of the good times we had over the summer, ya know?”

Dean took a breath then went on, “Sam was only 6 months old when she died, so he doesn’t really remember, though he did go on that last picnic. I’d bring him out here if I had the day off, once we moved back into town. Wasn’t the same though.”

Cas was looking fully at Dean, arms crossed behind his head. HIs face was soft and his eyes were so very blue, Dean shrugged a shoulder up, feeling the blanket crinkle under his jacket, and closed his eyes against the blue, “I figured you could use a little relaxing before school starts. Sam kind of stopped wanting to come out here in eighth grade, he was trying to figure out how he could get out of here as soon as he could and was spending most of his time at the library by then,” Dean smiled at the memory, he had been so hurt that Sammy hadn’t wanted to do the picnic, he had gone out in the freezing rain by himself and had caught one hell of a cold later that week.

He opened his eyes to see Cas still looking at him, a smile touching his lips, “Thank you, Dean,” he said.

\--

They sat like that, enjoying the silence and the nice weather. Suddenly Cas sat up, “Dean, Gabriel said you have a tattoo, may I see it?”

Dean looked at him, confused, “Um, sure, but how does Gabriel know about it?”

“Oh, I guess he saw Sam’s and asked him. Said that you and Sam had matching tattoos,” Cas waved a hand in the air.

Dean sat up, “Gabe saw Sam’s tattoo? Wait, you know what, never mind, I don’t want to know,” he pulled his shirt down to reveal the tattoo and Cas stared at it fixedly. Dean smiled, “Did you not notice it the, um, other night?”

Cas didn’t take his eyes off the tattoo, “No, it was dark and I was,” his cheeks colored slightly, “distracted. May I touch it?”

Dean snorted, “‘Course, got it a while ago,” he was about to say more but Cas ran a warm finger delicately over one of the lines and his jaw clicked shut.

“What’s it mean?” Cas asked, tracing his finger down, following the outline.

Dean swallowed hard, “Um, it’s for protection. Sam and I got them at the same time. He was going away to college and I,” whatever else Dean was going to say was cut off as Cas leaned forward to press a warm kiss against the tattoo. 

Cas pulled back with a grin, “Sorry, it looks good on you.”

Dean shook his head, a laugh bubbling up in his chest, and pulled Cas towards him, kissing the man and tasting sugar and ginger and spice. Cas melted against him, practically sitting in Dean’s lap, one hand moving up to tangle in Dean’s hair.

Dean felt like a teenager again, necking purely for the enjoyment of making out with someone. Cas’s hands moved lazily over his torso, finally finding their way under his shirt and tugging up.

Dean broke the kiss with a laugh, bringing his hands up to grasp Cas’s wrists lightly, “Hey, it’s cold out here!” he said.

“I know, I just want to see your tattoo again, please?”

Dean rolled his eyes, but there was really no way he was going to say no to that. He tugged Cas’s hands out from under his shirt then pulled his neckline down to reveal his tattoo again, “Never thought you’d be so fascinated by a little ink.”

Cas smiled, “I’ve always been interested in tattoos. And this one has some religious connotations, I like it quite a bit.”

Dean grinned, “Well, that’s good Cas, ‘cause I like you quite a bit.”

Cas’s finger stalled on its third circle of the outline of the tattoo and he grinned, stretching up to kiss Dean again

\--

The day continued like that. Sitting in silence and enjoying the weather, making out and telling random stories, though Dean refused to hear any stories involving Gabriel and Sam. It was wonderful and Dean didn’t want it to stop, but he had made a promise and he was going to keep it.

“Hey, Cas?”

“Hmmm?” Cas said lazily, eyes closed and head resting on his hands again.

“We’ve got some time, did you want to read me your lecture?” 

Cas popped an eye open and glanced at Dean, “Lecture?”

Dean laughed, closing his eyes, “Yeah, I said I’d let you practice giving your lecture, still want to?”

Cas sat up, “Are you sure, Dean? I would love a second opinion but I can read it to Gabriel again.”

Dean shook his head, “Nah, I don’t mind, lecture away.”

Dean promised himself that he wasn’t going to fall asleep, no matter how boring. He would stay awake and look interested. He was surprised to find, however, that the lecture was fascinating. The first part of the lecture was the normal, “this is what the class will be about, these are my office hours, this is what’s expected”, but the rest of it was not at all what Dean was anticipating.

Cas’s strong voice spoke about the importance of religion in the “new” America, how the class would examine the intersection of the various religions swirled around North America and how an understanding of religion was fundamental to an understanding of how the United States functioned, both in the past and present day. His passion was obvious, gesturing as he paced back and forth in front of Dean, eyes animated and body coiled.

Dean sat there, listening to Cas’s strong voice finishing the lecture, and knowing that Cas would have everyone in that classroom in love with him within the first five minutes of class. The small area fell silent and Cas eyed him carefully, “Of course, there will be a PowerPoint that goes with it, supplying maps and images and… things…” Cas’s voice drifted off as Dean didn’t move.

Dean grinned, “Cas, you’re awesome.”

Cas’s cheeks tinged pink, as he sat down next to Dean, “It was good? Everything made sense?”

“Cas, dude, I understood it, if I can understand it you’re golden.”

Cas’s eyebrows drew together and he frowned, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, however Dean leaned forward and kissed him to take that look off his face, bringing his hands up to rest warm palms on either side of Cas’s face. They broke the kiss and Cas leaned his forehead against Dean’s, a smile on his face.

“Thank you, Dean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, promise! I had a lot of trouble with this chapter and I'm not exactly happy with how it turned out.
> 
> I am sorry for taking much longer than I should have with getting this chapter out. I have had more death in my life in the last few months than I have had in the last few years and it's made me not want to concentrate on anything except for getting through the day. 
> 
> I do promise that I won't walk away from this story. I have the entire thing planned out and basically written in bits and fragments, it's just a matter of putting it all together. Hopefully it won't take as much time to get the next chapter out.
> 
> This is the car Bela is driving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap9eROAo82U it's beautiful, it's a lovely piece of machinery and it costs about $300,000. I think it also fits her pretty well.
> 
> Ginger cookies: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/big-soft-ginger-cookies they are good but they have a spice to them, so be ready for that. Still, YUM and perfect for fall.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I am terrible at writing porn. I keep slipping in and out of tense then I go back and try and fix it and I make it worse. I narrate way too much. Sorry for the very stilted writing. I'll work on it for next chapter (in which I am planning more porn unless I end up throwing my hands in the air and giving up). Also, I upped the rating on this to be careful? Let me know if I should go back down to M.
> 
> Sorry, also, for the huge delay. Not only was this chapter giving me conniptions but the end of 2014 was really shitty. Here's hoping that 2015 is better. As I've said before, this story is 100% mapped out and outlined, so it will be finished. It may just take me a long time between chapters. Sorry.

Dean stopped by the school on his lunch break on Monday with one of those salads-in-a-cup that Sam seemed to prefer from the cafe down the street and a handmade turkey sandwich, the kind he knew Sam liked.  On the weird bread with the grainy mustard and everything.  Sam taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he knew that his paranoid-about-everything brother would be in the office, probably going over his lecture for the hundredth time.  Dean huffed at the thought that he somehow found himself surrounded by such nerds as he knocked on Sam’s door.  He had had to stop and ask for directions since Sam had forgotten to show his brother the office _yet again_.

 

“Yes?  It’s open,” came through the office door.  Sam sounded just as stressed as Dean imagined.

 

He pushed the door open and stood silently until his brother looked up.  Confusion quickly turning to pleased surprise.

 

“Dean!  What’s up?”

 

Dean held up the food, “Thought I would save you from reworking your lecture for the hundredth time.  And feed you.  What a bargain.”

 

Sam flushed and Dean grinned in triumph when he heard Sam mutter, “I’m only on my fifteenth rework.”

 

Dean looked around the office curiously as he walked in, books and papers and various office supplies littered every surface, even the guest chair.  It was controlled chaos and immediately reminded Dean of how Sam’s room would look before he got the job at the university.  Dean jerked his chin at the chair, “Ya know students are going to need a place to sit, right?”

 

Sam muttered something under his breath that Dean wasn’t able to catch this time but got up and moved the books off the chair, stacking them precariously next to the desk.  Dean settled in the chair, still looking around curiously.

 

“So, you have an office,” a small ball of intense pride lodged itself under Dean’s breastbone.  Sam looked right sitting in his office.  And while it was small, it had a window and a nice computer and wood bookshelves lining the wall.  And there was a plaque with “Samuel Winchester” (and seeing Sammy’s full name was so odd to Dean) on the door.

 

Sammy sat back down, “It’s pretty nice, right?”

 

Dean grinned, “Yeah, it is.”

 

They sat and ate, Dean careful not to spill anything on the papers littering Sam’s desk.  Sam sat back with a sigh after finishing his sandwich “You still know how to make a damn good lunch.”

 

“Hell yeah, I do,” Dean stuck the last corner of his sandwich in his mouth and grinned around it, cheeks poofing out, “So, you coming to Bobby’s tonight?

 

Sam was leaning his chair back, balancing on the two back legs, eyes closed, “Hmm?  You know I can’t understand you when you talk with your mouth full”

 

Dean swallowed, “Jerk, are you coming to Bobby’s tonight?”

 

Sam popped an eye open, “I was planning on it, why?”

 

Dean quirked an eyebrow up, “You bringing Gabe?”

 

Sam jerked, almost tipping over.  The chair banged back down on the floor, “Why, um, why would I bring _Gabe_.”

 

Dean shrugged forcing back a grin, “I heard that he helped you _relax_ this weekend, thought you might want to thank him.”

 

Sam coughed, “What?  You heard what?”

 

Dean took pity on him, “I told him to go for it, you know”

 

“You what?”

 

“Gabe asked for my opinion, I told him to go for it.”

 

“Huh,” Sam gave him an assessing look, “I guess I can ask him.”

 

Dean shrugged again, “I’m sure we can use this opportunity to scar Bobby for life,” he waggled his eyebrows

 

Sam snorted and typed something into his phone, “I’ll let you know what he says.”

 

Dean nodded and moved on to other subjects, lingering a little longer than he meant, enjoying the conversation with his brother.

 

**\--**

 

Dean sang along to Cash’s _The Mercy Seat_ as he mixed the ground beef, sauce and herbs.  Sam had called him a short time after he had left the university to tell him that Gabe would be coming to dinner and that he’d bring Cas so Dean wouldn’t have to leave Bobby’s.  Bobby was already out cooking the ribs and Dean was enjoying the alone time.  He jumped when arms encircled him and Cas said, “Hello, Dean”

 

Dean grinned, “Hey, Cas,” and went back to mixing up the ground beef for the hamburgers.

 

Cas placed a kiss behind his ear and Dean felt goosebumps go up his arms.

 

Cas hummed lowly, and brought his lips to Dean’s ear, whispering, “You look like all my dirty mechanic fantasies come to life,”

 

Dean shivered, and tried to make his voice sound as unaffected as possible as he said, “So you have dirty mechanic fantasies, huh? That’s good to know.  And I showered anyway,” he knew he failed keeping his voice even and he cleared his throat.

 

Cas nuzzled at his neck, “Mmm, I think it might be a dirty Dean fantasy.”

 

Dean coughed, startled and pleased, but tilted his head to give Cas more access, which the other man took advantage of, using lips and gentle nibbles.

 

A rough “Ahem,” made Cas pause his movements and Dean felt his face heat.  He knew that sound.  He’d heard it often enough during his adolescence to have it practically seared into his brain.  Hearing it at this moment meant that it would definitely be seared into it now.

 

Cas dropped one last kiss to Dean’s neck, and stepped back.  Dean immediately missed the warmth against his back, but was not about to turn around and face Bobby.

 

Cas saved him, though, “Sir, you must be Bobby, I’m Castiel” Dean heard Cas move and twisted his head to see Cas and Bobby exchanging handshakes.

 

Bobby seemed completely unfazed as he shook Cas’s hand, “Nice to finally meet you, son.  Dean, those burgers ready yet, boy?”

 

Dean turned back to the food in front of him, realizing his hands had gone idle while Cas had been teasing him, “Um, ha, yeah, just need to form them.  Grill free?”

 

“Yup, just bring them back when they’re ready,” Bobby’s voice sounded weirdly uncomfortable suddenly, “I’ll, ah, leave you to it then,” Dean heard Bobby walk off, boots clunking on the wood floors.

 

Dean laughed lowly and Cas smacked him lightly on the shoulder, “That was not the way I wanted to meet him.  Not exactly the best first impression.”

 

Dean laughed again, thinking back to the conversation he had had with Sam earlier in the day, “To be entirely truthful, Bobby’s seen worse.  Though maybe we really will be able to scar him for life by the end of this.”

 

Cas tilted his head, “Is this a goal of yours?  

 

Dean grinned and leaned forward to kiss Cas in answer.

 

**\--**

 

Dinner was weirdly comfortable.  Ellen showed up with some of her top shelf beer, the kind she saved for “special occasions only”, kissing Dean on the cheek and pulling Sam into a one-armed hug.  Bobby grilled Gabe and Cas on the cars they drove and the maintenance schedule, and came away from the conversation looking at least somewhat mollified and having offered discounted oil changes to both of them.  Ellen was a little less obvious in her intentions, but she seemed charmed by Cas and unimpressed by Gabriel, though Dean saw the corner of her mouth twitch up once or twice when Gabe wasn’t looking.

 

Once everything was cooked to perfection they gathered their food and sat at the table close to the fire pit to eat, Cas sitting next to Dean, elbows bumping every once in awhile.  Dean watched carefully when Cas took his first bite of the burger. Cas chewed thoughtfully then looked at Dean and grinned.  

 

Dean leaned forward and asked, “Good?”

 

“These make me very happy, Dean,” Cas answered, taking a larger bite and groaning lowly under his breath.

 

Cas had finished two burgers and a handful of ribs and Dean was debating finishing the other half of his second burger when Cas raised an eyebrow at him, pointed at Dean’s plate and asked, “Can I?”

 

Ellen snorted indelicately and Dean heard Bobby say, “Jesus, save me from these boys,” but Dean just pushed his plate forward, winking at Cas.  He looked up to see Sam grinning at him from across the table and Gabe leaning over to whisper something in his ear.  Dean rolled his eyes at Sam and shook his head to show that he knew just how childish Sam was being.

 

**\--**

 

After dinner they sat around the fire pit, enjoying the warmth and watching the sparks rise up towards the stars.  It was getting colder at night and Dean was thankful for the warm fire and the man sitting next to him, close enough for some of his warmth to radiate to Dean.  Dean was just full enough to be comfortable and was nursing a beer.  Gabe was holding a conversation with Bobby and Ellen, and Sam and Cas were chatting about how Cas’s classes went (very well) and if Sam was ready for tomorrow (he was but was nervous).

 

Dean sat back and watched his family interacting with, well he wasn’t really sure what to call Cas.  Gabe was a friend, and Dean even considered him a good friend, sometimes.  Something in Dean’s heart made him hope, perhaps foolishly, that Cas could maybe be family at some point in the future.  It was a new feeling to Dean.  He had never thought he could be one of those people who found someone.  He had been happy with his life, dating people when he had the chance, with the understanding that they were just having fun, of course.  It was never any more than that and he had never thought it would be more than that, had never considered asking someone for more.

 

Electric blue shooting through him jolted him out of his thoughts and made him realize that he was absently staring at Cas and now Cas was looking back at him, a small smile on his lips.  Bobby cleared his throat, “Well, this old man is going to bed.  Dean, I’ll see you tomorrow?”  Dean jerked his head at Bobby in acknowledgement and the man stood up with a groan, “Okay, you young people clean up out here and make sure that fire is out properly.  Ellen, want to join me inside?”

 

Ellen stood, grinning, “Hey, I ain’t old like some people I know,” she punched Bobby on the shoulder, “but I should probably get back and make sure Jo hasn’t burned my bar down.”

 

Everyone said their goodbyes as Ellen and Bobby walked back towards the house, talking quietly.  A warm hand covered Dean’s and he glanced over to see Cas looking at him, cheeks flushed.  Dean grinned and threaded their fingers together.

 

Gabe made gagging noises, “Aren’t they disgusting, Sam?”

 

Dean glared, “You’re just jealous.  And short.”

 

Sam barked a laugh and Gabe scrunched his nose in annoyance.  After a moment Sam put a hesitant arm around Gabe’s shoulders and Gabe looked up at him in wonder then snuggled back, all trace of annoyance gone.

 

They sat around talking for a little longer, Cas leaning into Dean every once in awhile.  It was warm and comfortable.  Eventually, though, the fire died down to only a few glowing embers and the chill started to make its way into Dean’s bones.  Dean sighed, moving his shoulder slightly to let Cas know he needed to move.  Cas sat up with a confused look and Dean quirked a smile at him, standing up and grabbing the large bucket of rain water to pour on the ashes then stirring everything together.  Continuing to mix and stir until he was sure everything had died out.

 

He looked over to Cas to see the man openly staring at Dean’s ass and couldn’t help a snort from escaping, heart leaping in his chest at the heat he could see in Cas’s eyes.  Cas glanced up, cheeks dark in the faint light coming from Bobby’s porch and eyes wide.

 

Dean put the bucket back then stuck a hand out to Cas, glad to notice that he was able to keep it steady.  He felt like he was shaking out of his skin, “Shall we?”

 

Cas took his hand, palm warm in his own.  Cas squeezed his hand once and Dean could feel a small tremble go up Cas’s arm, “Of course, Dean.”

 

Dean saw Gabe grin out of the corner of his eye and turned to watch the man bury his face in Sam’s shoulder, his shoulders shaking in laughter.

 

Dean scowled, “What?”

 

Gabe took a moment to lift his head, “You two are the biggest dorks.  Seriously,” he melted into silent laughter again.

 

Dean felt his face go hot and he scoffed, “Whatever.”

 

Sam smiled at him, “It was good to see you Dean, I’m glad you’ve dropped some shifts.  We should plan another dinner.”

 

Guilt flared hot in Dean’s gut.  He should be making more time for his brother, “Yeah, Sam, that would be good.”

 

Gabe raised his head again, “I take it I won’t be seeing you tonight then, huh Cassie?”

 

Cas coughed sharply, “Um, no, I don’t believe so.”

 

Gabe grinned, teeth flashing bright in the dark, “Well you two have fun, then!  Sammy, dear, perhaps we should be going as well?”

 

The four of them walked to their various cars and Dean was perversely glad to see Sam standing at the driver’s side of his own car, talking quietly with Gabe and jingling his car keys in his hands, a tell that Sam had when he was nervous.

 

Dean raised a hand in a wave to Gabe and Sam then looked across the roof of his car to find Cas looking at him, hints of nervousness in the pinch of his eyes and the way his cheeks were flushed bright.  Cas’s hand was tight on the shoulder strap of his overnight bag and Cas tilted his head as Dean studied him.

 

Dean tightened his hand on the door handle, unsure, “You don’t have to, um, come over tonight if you don’t want to, Cas.”

 

Cas kept his head tilted, but his brow was furrowed now, “Did you not want me to come over?”

 

Dean coughed, and released his grip on the handle to scratch at the back of his head, “Ha, no.” He tried to come up with some way to tell Cas that if they did this and Cas decided that he didn’t want Dean that Dean wasn’t sure if he could handle it.

 

Dean was about to say more when Cas continued in a low voice, “You realize I’ve been thinking about this night since our first date, don’t you?

 

Dean chanced a look back at Gabe and Sam, who were still talking quietly to each other.  He turned back to Cas and grinned, “Then what are we waiting for?”

 

**\--**

 

The drive was both faster and slower than Dean could ever remember.  The road seemed to stretch out in front of him, never ending, and then suddenly he was home and opening the front door with shaky fingers, Cas standing so close that he could feel the body heat coming from the man.  Then he was inside and Cas was dropping his backpack and backing him against the wall of the front hallway, door still wide open.

 

Cas kissed him then, hands gently cupping Dean’s face, mouth hot.  His body, however, was too far away, and Dean felt that the hands on either side of his face were the only things keeping him grounded.  He groaned, and snaked an arm around Cas’s waist, pulling him until they were flush.  Cas bit at Dean’s lip in retaliation, one hand moving to the back of Dean’s neck to deepen the kiss.  

 

Dean snuck a hand under Cas’s soft sweater, moving until he found the dip in Cas’s back, thumbs stroking over the soft skin there.  Cas’s fingers at the base of Dean’s skull spasmed and Cas crowded even closer, his other hand sneaking up Dean’s shirt to stroke at his side.  Dean felt Cas hardening and rolled his hips forward, meeting Cas’s growing hardness with his own.  He saw lights flash in the hallway and heard a car drive by and he smirked against Cas’s lips, bringing his hands up to push lightly at Cas’s shoulders.

 

The other man stumbled back a few steps, blinking at Dean owlishly.  Dean laughed, reached forward to fist a hand in the lapel of Cas’s coat, and brought his other hand out to close the front door, grinning and saying, “Don’t want to find out if we can _actually_ be arrested for ‘indecent behavior’.”

 

It took a moment but Cas laughed and took a step forward to invade Dean’s space again.  Dean thought that he smelled of fire and wild things then moved his hand under Cas’s coat to push it off his shoulder.  Cas shrugged out of the coat, letting it fall to the floor and Dean buried his nose in Cas’s neck, breathing deep.  He stepped forward, turning to walk Cas backwards toward the stairs, feeling Cas tugging at Dean’s own leather jacket as they walked.  Somehow, amazingly they made it all the way to Dean’s bedroom, shedding clothes the entire way and not tripping.

 

When they finally reached Dean’s bedroom, they were both only left in their boxers.  Cas took the lead pushing Dean backwards onto the bed.  Dean bounced once, a desperate laugh escaping him until Cas crowded into him, their bodies coming into perfect alignment.  Cas rutted against him then, gasping into his ear and worrying at the lobe with his teeth.  Dean buried his nose into the juncture of Cas’s neck and shoulder, feeling like he was coming undone.

 

“What do you want, tell me what you want,” Dean’s voice doesn’t sound like him, shaky and desperate.

 

“Anything, Dean, anything,” Cas’s voice was ragged in his ear and Dean wasn’t sure who was shaking harder.  He tightened his arms around Cas.

 

“I want to taste you, can I taste you, please?” Dean had been wondering what Cas tasted like since that first night they had spent in this bed.

 

Cas made a strangled noise, “Please, Dean.”

 

Dean hesitated, breathing Cas in for a moment.  He could already feel his release building low in his spine.  He wanted this to last, wanted to enjoy this while he had the chance.  He placed a kiss just behind Cas’s ear, moving to mouth along the man’s jaw.  Cas twisted to catch Dean’s mouth with his own, sucking at his bottom lip.

 

Dean groaned and lifted his hips to bring them into alignment with Cas’s again, rutting helplessly for a moment.  Then he braced his legs and flipped them, grinning at the noise that came out of Cas at the movement, Cas’s legs falling open around Dean.  He reached down to kiss at Cas’s mouth and let his hand trail slowly down Cas’s body, feeling muscles shift under his touch and taking his time mapping the planes of Cas’s chest and stomach.

 

With a last kiss to Cas’s mouth he trailed down, following the line of Cas’s neck to his collarbone, tasting salt and something else that was uniquely Cas.  He skimmed his mouth over Cas’s chest, licking at one nipple, then biting gently.  Cas gasped and a hand flew up to Dean’s head, fingers tightening in his hair.  Dean groaned and tipped his head toward Cas’s hand, enjoying the small flare of pain.  Cas loosened his fingers, petting gently before placing his hand back in the sheets.  Dean wanted to tell him that it was okay, that the pain was grounding, but didn’t want to take his mouth away from all of the glorious skin in front of him even for a moment.

 

He trailed his mouth further down, tasting as he went, hands resting on Cas’s hipbones, just above the line of his boxers.  He mouthed at Cas’s hip, scraping his teeth over the bone and looking up through his lashes at Cas’s face.  He found Cas staring back at him, a line of bright blue ringing pupils that were blown wide.  Flags of color were high on Cas’s cheeks and he looked absolutely wrecked, beautiful.  Dean grinned at Cas, loving that he was the one who put that look on Cas’s face.

 

Dean dragged his hands across Cas’s flat stomach, along the top of his boxers, never breaking eye contact.  He quirked his eyebrow up in question, wanting to make sure that Cas had the chance to back out but Cas just groaned and brought his hands to the side of his boxers, helping Dean tug them down his legs.  He pulled Cas’s boxers all the way off, then, quickly, his own then made his way back up the bed, kissing along Cas’s legs as he went.

 

He took a moment to just look his fill, Cas was long and hard and perfect.  He brought his hand up to stroke once, loosely, enjoying the heaviness in his hand.  A clear bead of liquid formed at the tip and Dean tasted it with the flat of his tongue.  Cas arched into the touch and the bitter taste of him was perfect, so Dean did it again, circling his tongue and stroking up Cas’s length, hand tighter this time.  Cas let out a breathy, “Fuck” fingers tightening in the bed sheets.

 

Dean made a strangled sound at the unexpected cuss, and brought his hips down to rut desperately once against the mattress, the friction of the sheets almost too much against his length.  He wanted more and placed a palm flat on Cas’s hip, licking from the base of Cas’s dick to his head then lowering to take Cas into his mouth, enjoying the heaviness on his tongue.  Cas arched his back again, straining a little against Dean’s hand on his hip, but careful not to jerk into Dean’s mouth.  Cas’s hand moved from bunching in the sheets to thread into Dean’s hair, immediately moving away again to bunch in the sheets with a whispered “Sorry” in a strained voice.  Dean groaned around the length in his mouth and searched blindly with his free hand until he found Cas's hand, bringing it to his head.  He groaned again when Cas hesitantly threaded his fingers gently back into Dean's hair to stay there.

 

Tonguing at Cas’s slit and tasting another bead of precome he bobbed his head, trailing his tongue up the vein on the underside with each bob.  It had been a long time since he had given head, and he wanted to savor it.  He trailed his hand from Cas’s hip, trusting the other man not to thrust up and choke him, moving his hand to skim over the soft skin of Cas’s balls, palming them and feeling the weight in his hand.  He pressed a finger just under Cas’s balls and the man gasped at the slight pressure, thrusting down toward the feeling, hand spasming in Dean’s hair.  

 

Dean took a few moments to focus on that area, switching between circling gently and placing light pressure on the small knot, still bobbing his head and tonguing at Cas’s head.  He moved his finger lower, to ghost lightly over Cas’s entrance.  The other man stilled suddenly and Dean moved away, ready to apologize.

 

Cas let out another breathy swear, then rocked his hips towards Dean’s hand, saying “Please, please,” under his breath.  Dean frantically moved his mouth from Cas, growling under his breath.  The man was beautiful and Dean felt a pulse in his own dick at the view.  He slicked a finger with spit and before Cas could do more than tighten his fingers in Dean’s hair slightly and say, “Dean, Dean, Dean, please,” he returned his mouth to Cas and brought his finger down to Cas’s entrance, rubbing a little more insistently this time.

 

He looked up at Cas again and the view had Dean stuttering to a stop for a moment.  Cas’s head was thrown back on the pillow, the long line of his throat bared and his Adam’s apple bobbing.  His chest was heaving and his skin was flushed darkly.  The man was glorious and Dean felt his heart stop for a second.  He groaned around the length in his mouth and the vibration had Cas turning his head from side to side, eyes squeezed shut.  Dean redoubled his efforts, flattening his tongue to run it up the underside of Cas’s dick and tonguing at his slit again.  The movement had Cas rocking his hips down and suddenly the tip of Dean’s finger slipped inside Cas.

 

Dean took a moment to let Cas's body get used to the intrusion then pushed in slowly, pumping his finger in time with the motion of his mouth.  Cas’s fingers fluttered in Dean’s hair again and Dean crooked his finger, searching for that spot.  He knew when he found it because Cas suddenly went still then started chanting Dean’s name, hips rolling down on Dean’s finger again and again while Dean sucked at the length in his mouth, hollowing his cheeks.  Cas’s fingers tightened in Dean’s hair and he pulled gently, saying, “Dean, Dean, I’m close.”

 

Dean appreciated the warning but continued his movements, wanting to taste all of Cas.  Cas threw his head back, groaning and one more crook of Dean’s finger had Cas stilling, then a shudder ran through his entire body as he shot into Dean’s mouth.  Dean moaned at the taste, swallowing around Cas and slipping his finger gently out of the man, feeling Cas’s body tighten around him at the loss.

 

He took his mouth from Cas’s dick, placed a kiss on his hip, rocked back and brought his clean hand to his own straining erection.  Two quick tugs and he was coming on Cas’s stomach.  Cas watched him through wide eyes, bottom lip caught between white teeth and chest heaving.

 

After a moment Dean shuffled forward on creaking knees, and collapsed against Cas’s side breathing heavily.  Cas didn’t move except to shift his head so he could continue to look at Dean, face flushed and breathing quick.  Dean waited for his own breathing to slow then grinned at Cas, who just shook his head.

 

“You will be the death of me, Dean,” Cas said, voice rough.

 

Dean laughed, bright and happy, “Come on, Cas, let’s go take a shower.”

 

They washed each other in Dean’s shower, sharing sleepy kisses.  Dean took his time running his hands down Cas’s strong back, watching the muscles shift under Cas’s smooth skin.  He dropped a kiss to the knot of Cas’s spine, then pulled Cas into the stream of warm water.

 

After the shower they stumbled to the bed, Dean pulling out a pair of pajama pants for both of them, realizing that Cas had left his overnight bag downstairs, and flipping off the light on his way.  On the bed Cas snuggled up against Dean’s side, resting his head on Dean’s shoulder, still warm from the shower.  Dean brought his hand to skim over Cas’s back lightly, enjoying the goosebumps that rose in the wake of his movements.  Cas huffed against his shoulder, shook his head and muttered “the death of me”.

 

Dean grinned, “I believe the feeling is mutual,” running a hand down Cas’s back again.  Cas hummed and pressed a kiss to Dean’s neck, slinging an arm across Dean’s stomach.

 

“I’m going to fall asleep now, Dean, but can we do this again?” Cas’s voice was sleepy and his lips moved against Dean’s shoulder with each word.

  
Dean smiled and kissed the top of Cas’s head, breathing in the smell of his shampoo in Cas’s hair, “I’m planning on it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a vegetarian, so I really can't give you good recipes for the burger or ribs. Here are ones I found online? I hope they're okay.
> 
> Burger: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Hamburger-Ever/Detail.aspx?evt19=1  
> Ribs: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/classic-barbecue-spareribs-recipe


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I am TERRIBLE at posting with any sort of regularity. I am so sorry! There's a lot of stuff going on in my life and I just haven't had a ton of time to write.
> 
> However, I will say two things:  
> 1\. I promise that I am planning to finish this story  
> 2\. I actually have a decent amount of it written and even more planned out. Unfortunately it's the little things that I start to obsess over that cause issues.

Dean woke the next morning to find Cas pressed against him again, leg thrown between Dean’s own, head on Dean’s shoulder. Dean chuckled lowly, amused at the clinginess of the other man and checked the time. Two hours before he needed to leave for work. He kissed the top of Cas’s head and started to slowly extricate himself from underneath the man, who murmured sleepy protests. When he was free he got up, shaking feeling back into his arm while staring at the dark head poking from under the covers. Cas snuggled against Dean’s abandoned pillow and it suddenly hit Dean that he had no idea what the hell he had gotten himself into. 

Dean stood a moment, shocked at the cold that gripped his stomach and the fear that had hit him so suddenly. He wondered just how long he could last with this, how long Cas would put up with him. Dean sighed and shook his head at the direction of his thoughts trying to push them out of his mind while he used the bathroom. He opened the bathroom door to find Cas stretching, back arching under the covers. He swallowed hard at the view, eyes tracing the line of Cas’s body.

Cas came back down to the bed and opened his eyes, looking at Dean with a smile, “Good morning, Dean.”

“Mornin’ Cas,” Dean said, clearing his throat, panic flooding back into his body. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t remember what he was supposed to do. One night stands meant never having to deal with the morning after. And with people like Pam it was easy, both knowing that it meant nothing beside the sex. Pam would have smiled and pulled him into bed again and Dean would have willingly gone, laughing.

Dean cleared his throat again, food, food was safe “Want breakfast? Coffee? I’ve, ah, only got instant.”

“Mmm,” Cas hummed, “Coffee would be nice, I don’t mind instant.”

Dean stood there for a moment, wondering where his sleepy contentment had fled, “Right, um, just come downstairs when you’re ready, feel free to shower.”

Cas studied him for a moment and Dean felt his ears heat, he broke the gaze and turned on his heel, walking downstairs to start the coffee.

**\--**

Dean felt too large in his skin, or maybe too small, he wasn’t sure. Cas had taken a shower, he had heard the shower start up and he had taken a few moments to breathe, leaning against the kitchen counter. Once the shower shut off he made the coffee, letting the water heat in the microwave and wishing, for a moment, that he had real coffee. He normally had some of the gut rot coffee at work, but Cas was probably used to good coffee, better than his pathetic instant. He jumped when warm arms came around him and a chin came to rest on his shoulder.

Cas hummed happily, “Thank you for the coffee. I have a hard time waking up without it, I’m afraid.”

Dean huffed, wanting to lean back into the warmth of the body behind him, “It’s okay, it’s just cheap instant.”

He felt Cas move closer, arms tightening, “As long as it has caffeine it will work,” Cas nuzzled into Dean’s neck and Dean finally felt himself relaxing, placing his hands over Cas’s arms. He closed his eyes at the comfortable settling he felt in his body, like his bones had moved back to their normal size and his skin held him normally again.

The microwave beeped but Cas didn’t move, holding Dean for a few more moments, mouth open and warm on his neck, but not moving. When the microwave beeped again Dean tightened his hands on Cas’s arms and laughed, “Let me get the water before it gets too cold, yeah?”

Cas made a sound of protest but stepped back, hands falling to trail along the top of Dean’s hips as he moved. Dean shivered at the feeling, forcing his hands to remain steady as he stirred the coffee. Cas took the mug and immediately wrapped his hands around the ceramic, bringing it to his nose to inhale before taking a sip. He made a small sound of pleasure and goosebumps broke across Dean’s skin. He cleared his throat, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.

“I’m, uh, gonna go grab a shower, are you okay here? Feel free to eat anything, I don’t really have a lot, but…” he stopped talking when Cas laughed happily, sound like a bell.

“Dean, go,” Cas leaned forward and kissed him, mouth tasting of coffee, “I’ll be fine!”

Dean smiled, and kissed Cas again.

**\--**

Dean showered quickly and was shaving at the mirror when he heard a knock at the door and Cas poked his head in.

“Would you mind if I brushed my teeth in here?”

“Sure, I’m almost done,” Dean washed his razor and went back to his face as Cas pulled out his brush, standing at the sink next to Dean. Dean watched Cas in the mirror, wondering at the strange domesticity of it all. Dean felt his shoulders tensing, not used to people in his space, in his life. He finished with his face, cleaning it of the leftover cream then patting aftershave on. He caught Cas’s eyes in the mirror and the man grinned around his toothbrush, he hip-checked Dean then leaned down to spit into the sink. He stood up, wiping his mouth then quickly turned and buried his nose into the side of Dean’s neck.

“Mmmm,” Cas bit down lightly on Dean’s shoulder then kissed the spot, “you smell good,” he said, the movement of his lips against Dean’s shoulder made him shudder.

Dean dropped his head to press an open mouthed kiss to Cas’s collarbone. He wanted to drop to his knees, take Cas into his mouth, quiet the anxiety in his chest and the fear on the back of his tongue.

Instead he glanced at the watch sitting on the counter and sighed, “I gotta get ready for work.”

“Mmmhmm,” Cas kissed along his jawline then picked his head up and kissed Dean chastely on the mouth, “You are a menace, Dean Winchester,” Cas said with a grin.

**\--**

He turned, full beer in hand, to find Cas sitting at the bar next to Rufus. He almost dropped the mug he was holding when Cas gave him a tentative smile and wave. He placed the beer in front of Phil, eyes never leaving Cas. 

“Heya, Cas,” Dean said, coming to stand in front of the blue eyed man.

Rufus started at the name and looked first at Dean then turned to stare at Cas. Jo noticed Rufus staring and turned to look at the man as well, smile lighting her face when she recognized who it was.

“Dean,” Cas’s voice was even but there was a tightness around his mouth as his eyes flicked to Jo and he shifted in his seat, “I hope you don’t mind me being here?”

“Nah, Cas, it’s all good,” Dean really wanted to ask him how his day was, if he had had a good day at work, if he was here to say that this wasn’t working and he wanted to break up.

Dean jumped when Jo smacked him on the ass, “ _Well_ ,” she said, “are you gonna introduce us?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Cas, this is Jo, Jo, Cas.”

Jo grinned, “Pleased to meet you, properly, cutie butt.”

Cas flushed and Dean snorted, “Sorry Cas, she’s kind of like my little sister, it’s her prerogative to tease my boyfriend.”

Cas flushed even deeper and looked at Dean, smile large and easy now.

“Ain’t you gonna offer him something, Dean?” Ellen nodded at Cas, “Good to see you again, Cas.”

“Cas, something to drink?” Dean asked.

“Beer? Tap is fine,” Cas glanced to the side, where Jo was standing in front of Rufus, both of them staring openly at him.

Dean huffed and smacked Jo with his towel as he walked by, “Just talk to him,” he said, watching Jo’s face turn red.

Rufus grinned, teeth flashing bright, “Cas, I’m Rufus, Dean here’s got no manners,” they shook hands as Dean filled a glass.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you,” Cas said.

Rufus snorted, “None of it true, I’m sure.”

Jo laughed, “Oh, I assure you, old man, most of it was probably true,” Rufus rolled his eyes but said nothing as Jo turned to Cas, “So you’re the guy who has Dean all flustered.”

Dean sputtered and Cas turned bright blue eyes on him, grinning widely, “You’re not supposed to _tell_ him stuff like that, Jo. Jeeze,” he placed Cas’s beer in front of the man and waved to someone down the bar who was trying to get his attention, “I gotta go Cas. Jo, Rufus, you be nice.”

Jo grinned, “Oh, I’m _always_ nice.”

Dean waved at Cas and reluctantly headed to the end of the bar.

The night went quickly after that, with Cas watching him in between scattered questions from Jo and Rufus. Other regulars came and went and someone inevitably introduced him as Dean’s new beau, instantly causing more questions and curiosity.

By the time the night came to a close, Cas had been introduced to almost everyone in the bar and had probably done more talking than he had in all his classes combined.

Dean stopped in front of him, “Hate to tell you this, Cas, but this is a pretty small town. I’m gonna guess that everyone knows who you are by now. You’re probably gonna get stopped on the street tomorrow.”

Cas looked weirdly pleased at the news, “I certainly don’t mind. I’ve been enjoying meeting new people.”

Dean smiled, happy and sated after a long night. Nights at the bar always made him feel strangely calm.

Cas fiddled with his phone, “I was hoping, perhaps, that I could come over tonight? If you’re too tired, of course I understand.”

Dean felt his smile grow wider, Cas was staring at his hands, nervous, “Ha, yeah, Cas, I gotta finish up here, but I can meet you at your car?”

Cas smiled, “I’ll be waiting.”

**\--**

Dean pushed into the back room with a sigh, taking his apron off. He listened to the sounds of the bar shutting down. It was one of his favorite parts of the night. On nights when his dad was sober they would turn on the music and shoot the shit while cleaning. When his dad was passed out on the couch he would turn the music on low and sing along to himself, enjoying the quiet as the energy drained out of the bar.

He rolled his shoulders, reaching over to hang up his apron. He heard a knock at the door and went to open it, confused as to who would be knocking. Jo or Ellen would just come in.

Cas pushed him back into the room as soon as Dean opened the door, mouth hot against Dean’s. He turned and crowded Dean against the door, then reached back to lock it, the sound loud in the small room. Cas broke the kiss and panted against Dean’s mouth, pupils wide and dark.

“You are insanely attractive, Dean Winchester,” Cas growled against his mouth.

Dean stared back at him, not processing, “I… I thought you were… car?” was all he got out.

Cas leaned forward and nuzzled against his neck, “Jo let me back in,” Cas bit his ear and Dean let out a low sound, wrecked. Cas’s hands snuck under Dean’s shirt, thumbs moving along the line of Dean’s hip, movement causing ripples to run up Dean’s spine. 

Dean dropped his hands to Cas’s hips, and the man’s hand moved higher, pinched a nipple lightly. Dean gasped and banged his head against the door, muttering, “Christ”.

“Do you have any idea,” Cas growled against his ear, hands frantically moving to Dean’s belt, pulling leather out of the tabs, “any idea at all, _Dean_.” Cas’s voice was equally as frantic. 

The sound of a zipper sounded loud in the small room, and Cas dropped to his knees, pulling Dean’s pants down with him and nosing at the line of Dean's cock, which was quickly growing harder.

“Cas, _fuck_ ,” Dean said banging his head back against the door again.

“Tell me if this is okay, Dean,” Cas’s hands stilled on the line of Dean’s hips, fingers tightening.

“Christ, Cas, yes, anything,” Cas fingers tightened again and he leaned forward, dropping a kiss just above the waistband of Dean's boxers.

"I have been wanting to get my mouth on you all damn day," Cas’s fingers dropped into the waistband, tugging them lower slowly. He dropped kisses on every inch of skin that was uncovered. Dean tugged at his own hair at the teasing touches, trying to distract himself.

Finally, _finally_ , Cas brought his mouth to the head of Dean’s cock, licking away the bead of precome. Dean dropped his hands against the door, balling them into fists and letting out a harsh breath. Cas groaned and mouthed down the line of Dean’s dick. He brought a hand up to play with Dean’s balls, rolling and tugging them gently before bringing his mouth to them.

“Fuck,” Dean breathed, trying to focus on anything except what Cas was doing. He felt like a teenager again, on edge with the lightest of touches. Cas worked his way back up, mouth playing with the skin around the head, then palmed at Dean’s ass, digging his fingers into the muscle and pulling Dean’s hips forward, opening his mouth and guiding Dean in.

“Jesus,” Dean said, digging his nails into his palms, “Cas, please,” he wasn’t sure what he was asking for anymore.

Cas groaned around him, sending a shock up Dean’s spine. Cas dropped his hands and Dean forced his hips to stay still as Cas swirled his tongue around the head before moving his mouth back down Dean’s shaft.

Dean heard rustling and glanced down to see Cas pulling his fly open and palming at his own cock, “Holy shit,” Dean said, dropping his head back again. One of Cas’s hands moved back to cup Dean’s balls and Dean felt his body tightening, tingles erupting at the base of his spine.

“Cas, Cas, I’m close,” he warned.

Cas moaned again, bringing Dean deep into his mouth. Dean groaned and came down Cas’s throat, feeling the man swallow around him. Cas pulled back finally and gave Dean one last lick and Dean felt his knees giving out. He slid down the door, watching as Cas fisted his cock then reached forward, adding his hand over Cas’s.

He revealed in the sight, Cas moving his hand over his own cock and tipping his head back, exposing his throat. Dean shifted to his knees and leaned forward, licking a stripe up Cas’s throat then dropping down and sucking a mark at the meeting of neck and shoulder. Cas gasped, pulling in a sharp breath, coming over both of their hands.

Dean brought his hand to his mouth, sucking his fingers clean while Cas watched him with heavy lidded eyes.

“Holy shit, Cas,” Dean said. 

Cas grinned at him, “I think I may have a bartender fantasy, too.”

Dean coughed a laugh, “Yeah, Cas, I guess so.”

On their way out Jo gave Dean a wicked grin and a wink. He felt color high on his cheeks all the way to his car.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive, haha! This chapter has a bunch of schmoop in it. I'm having trouble with dirtier stuff because nothing sounds right to me and it was part of what was holding up this chapter so I eventually just gave up. So, yeah. Dirtier stuff next time. Seriously, sorry for taking so long between chapters. Lots of stuff, medical and personal, taking up a lot of time. 
> 
> Thank you so much to those of you who have stuck with me for the ages between chapters, it really does mean so, so much to me <3

Somehow everything settled into a new routine and Dean found himself settling with it. Cas was teaching and slowly slipping into the role of beloved professor and colleague. Most nights Cas would come to the bar after work and talk with Rufus, keeping one eye on Dean and sending quiet smiles his way. On slow nights they talked over the bartop, Jo and Meg adding in their off-color comments and Ellen watching from down the bar with quiet consideration. He returned home with Dean those nights, and Dean found himself starting to become more comfortable when he woke with Cas in his bed than when he didn’t.

Ellen kept patting him on the shoulder and telling him that she was happy for him, Jo would say the same but after patting him on the butt. Bobby cornered him one day as he was putting the finishing touches on the Mustang and told him that all of his smiling was annoying and he needed to cut it out. Ash loudly agreed with the sentiment.

Charlie showed up at the bar one night, invited him on a double date with her and Gilda and they all went out for burgers, fries, and milkshakes, laughing and joking all night. 

Charlie pulled him away as they were walking to their cars, “He is _dreamy_.”

Dean grinned and said, “I know.”

And Dean found himself with a new friend.

**\--**

There were still moments of doubt, like when Balthazar came to pick up his Camero, this time accompanied by an attractive young man. Balthazar grinned hugely when he saw the car, leaned over and kissed the man he was with on the cheek, whispering into his ear. Dean saw the man shiver then nod, getting into the car they had come in and turning it around to drive away.

Balthazar jerked his thumb in the direction of the man, “Teddy there works in the History department. Little young for me but,” Balthazar shrugged.

Dean scratched at his jaw, “Really, didn’t realize that universities, uhh,” he wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, but really, how many attractive people worked at that university. He wondered if Cas knew Teddy, or others, people who were just as attractive, but smart. Smarter than Dean at least.

Balthazar stopped towards the back of the car then turned smartly on his heel to face Dean, studying him with knowing eyes. He smiled, face turning even craggier, “You know he adores you, right?”

Dean felt his face go hot, “What?” he stuttered.

Balthazar laughed, “Yeah, Cas is head over heels for you, darling. Won’t shut up about you, actually. Quite annoying,” he waved his hand in the air, as if shooing away a pest.

Dean knew his face was burning now and he stepped forward briskly, “Here, let me show you what I did with your car.”

His doubts stopped clawing through the back of his brain for the day.

**\--**

Somehow it became October, then Halloween. Ellen closed the bar, as she did every Halloween. She had learned that college students, alcohol, and masks didn’t mix. When asked why she would tell people _Hey, if you want to come clean up puke that goes everywhere because someone can’t get a goddamn mask off in time, then we’ll stay open_. Instead, she opened it to staff and friends only. Dean dressed in a Batman tee-shirt and took turns working the bar with Ruby and Jo telling people that he was Batman, _duh_ , if they asked.

Bowls of candy were lining the bartop in place of the regular pretzels and tables and the couch and TV from the back room were pulled out for the night, old horror movies playing in grainy footage on the old TV. Dean plopped down on the couch next to Cas, who immediately snuggled next to him. Dean looked at him from the corner of his eye. There was a flush high on his cheeks and he was grinning widely.

“Hey, Cas, babe, how much have you had to drink tonight?” he asked, running his fingers through Cas’s hair.

Cas leaned into the touch, “I’m not entirely sure, Dean, why?” his voice was slurred.

Dean snorted, “You are _drunk_.”

Cas sat up, looking affronted, “I am not. I am just the proper amount of tipsy to celebrate the best holiday of the year.”

Dean sighed, pulling Cas back against his side and running his fingers through the man’s hair again, “Best holiday of the year, huh?”

Gabe pulled a chair up and sat down next to them, saying, “We love Halloween. Michael says it’s the Devil’s holiday and all my brothers would go out to hand out bible verses to people. They’d be out all night, trying to get drunk teenagers to listen to their preaching. We snuck candy and popcorn into the house and would watch horror movies.”

Dean put his arm over Cas’s shoulder and pulled him closer, “It is a good holiday.”

He grinned when Cas said back, “The best.”

**\--**

That night Dean sat in bed, watching Cas’s face change in his sleep and trying to ignore the niggling thoughts that were keeping him awake. Dean wanted to hunt down his brothers. Make them realize that you don’t treat family that way. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he ever did come across them, if he was honest with himself. He thought that perhaps he was more like his father than he wanted to believe, violence simmering in his blood and deep in his bones.

His father had never hit him or Sammy; was always painfully careful when he touched them, even when showing affection as if he would break them with the barest of touches. But some nights he would come back to the motel reeking of alcohol, knuckles and face bloody. Dean would always dirty the motel’s hand towels, water in the sink turning a rust color and his Dad too out of it to do more than moan. A few times Dad came back looking worse. Dean learned how to use butterfly bandages and then how to place stitches, trying to ignore the feeling that raged through him as he saw his Dad pouring more whiskey down his throat in response to the sharp pain from the needle.

Cas moved against the sheets, murmuring lowly and Dean came out of his thoughts, feeling oddly broken. He must have made a noise because Cas stirred and opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at Dean. He leaned up and dropped a kiss to Dean’s nose.

“Can’t sleep?” Cas asked quietly.

“Sorry if I woke you,” Dean said, and Cas shook his head, making a noise in the back of this throat.

Dean reached up and ran a thumb softly over the dark line of Cas’s eyebrow. The man sighed and leaned into the feeling. Dean felt horrified as his bottom lip started to tremble suddenly. He wondered how many more nights he would get like this, before he fucked up and Cas wised up and got the hell out of dodge.

“Dean, are you okay?” Cas was looking at him, gaze gentle and Dean wanted to say that he needed to figure out how to live without Cas, because otherwise he would be broken when Cas left him.

When Dean didn’t answer, Cas sighed and turned on his side, sliding a warm arm over Dean and burrowing into him, tucking his head under Dean’s chin. 

“Tell me where you go sometime, if you could? I’d like to be there with you if you want me there,” Cas tightened his arm and placed a kiss on Dean’s chest, where his shirt had fallen away. Dean nodded, holding himself tightly and Cas nuzzled at his neck, placing a second kiss behind Dean’s ear. 

“Okay, time to sleep,” Cas’s lips tickled at Dean’s throat and Dean felt a smile tugging at his mouth and his body starting to relax. He kissed the top of Cas’s head, inhaling the soft, sweet smell of the other man that reminded him of summer storms. He snaked an arm around Cas and pulled him close, feeling the warmth of the man sink into his bones. As the minutes ticked by he felt the tension start to ease from his body. Before he realized it, he was asleep, finally calm.

**\--**

The morning of Thanksgiving Cas woke him late, with soft touches, followed closely by warm lips moving down his chest.

Dean groaned and arched into the touch. Cas moved up his body and kissed him gently before grinning against Dean’s mouth, “We’re going to have to get up soon, Dean. Your brother said he would be here early to help with the cooking.”

Dean groaned again, this time unhappily, “I can text him. He doesn’t need to be here. I _am_ a kickass chef, ya know.”

Cas dropped his head to Dean’s chest, laughing softly, “I know you are, Dean, but we should get up, we’re going to have a full house soon.”

Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’s back and buried his nose in the other man’s hair, “Five more minutes?” he wheedled.

Dean ended up sending a text and they didn’t get out of bed for another hour.

**\--**

Charlie was the first to show, Gilda following with mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes in hand. Benny and Andrea came next, flourishing a bottle of his apple pie brandy and toothy smiles. Sam and Gabe showed up with an actual apple pie, along with a cherry, pumpkin, and French silk. Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean when they got to the kitchen, taking in the mess of greasy mixing bowls and sticky wooden spoons on the counters and the piles of dishes in the sink.

“Didn’t need any help, huh?” he asked.

Dean felt his cheeks heat and he heard Gabe chuckle quietly, “I’m still expecting help with the clean-up, ya know, but I rocked the cooking. Gonna be the best goddamn turkey you ever tasted.”

Gabe clapped his hands together, rubbing them vigorously, “And I will be the best goddamn turkey taste tester! And Sam, it’s not like we didn’t put the morning to good use at least.”

Dean groaned and covered his ears as Gabe continued talking, making hand gestures as he talked and, from the color that Sam was turning, going into more detail than was actually needed.

_Thank God Bobby and Ellen aren’t here for this_ , he thought. He did take a moment to appreciate how red Sam’s face grew.

He felt a soft touch trace up his arm to his hand, pulling it gently away from his ear. Cas kissed his knuckles then leaned in and whispered, “I’m so happy to be here, Dean”.

Dean felt his face get hot as Cas leaned up and dropped a kiss on his cheek. He interlaced his fingers with Cas and squeezed his hand, hoping the other man knew that he meant that he was happy that Cas was here too.

When he looked over to Gabe and Sam he saw the two of them staring openly at him.

“What?” he asked, trying to sound annoyed.

Sam smiled, “Nothing Dean, Gabe, come help me with the dishes.”

Gabe groaned but Sam pushed him towards the sink, “Yeah, yeah, come on shorty.”

A knock on the door distracted Dean from laughing at the aggrieved look on Gabe’s face as he handled the dirty dishes. He leaned down, kissing Cas lightly and went to greet the new arrivals.

He opened the door to find Bobby, Ellen, and Jo. Bobby was holding a dish and Dean immediately lit up, “Ohh, is that my green bean casserole?”

Bobby snorted, “Yes, I made double this year.”

Dean grinned and clapped Bobby on the shoulder, standing aside to let the man enter, “Awesome, leftovers”

Ellen piped up, “Doubt it Dean, I’m planning on eating as much as I can stuff into my mouth.”

She stepped in behind Bobby and shoved a case of beer into Dean’s chest. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, as she walked by ”Mmm, I’ll fight you if I have to.”

Jo stepped up, saying, “Come on, Dean, you know you wouldn’t win that fight.” She pulled him into a sideways hug.

Dean stage whispered, “Jo! Shh! I’m trying to intimidate her!”

Jo huffed a laugh, “You’re a dork.”

“Yeah, yeah. And what is your contribution to our dinner tonight? I’m not letting you in this house unless you’ve brought something.”

“Relax, Dean, I’ve got some stuff right here.” she raised a bag and Dean heard something heavy and metallic sounding clank inside the bag.

He raised an eyebrow but gestured her through the door. When they got to the kitchen and he saw what was in the bag he crossed his arms and looked at her, raising both eyebrows this time.

“What?” she said, voice amused, “You know I don’t cook. Plus, canned corn is an awesome contribution to _any_ dinner.”

**\--**

Dinner was a rowdy affair, with two tables set up in the living room to accommodate everyone and the rest of the furniture pushed together out of the way. Jody stopped by in the middle of it while on her rounds, saying hi, grabbing a mouthful of turkey and potatoes, and leaving with a bag stuffed with tupperwares full of food that Dean shoved into her hands despite her protests. As he walked back to the table he paused to take in the scene. 

At one table Charlie had Sam in a headlock and was giving him a noogie while Gilda looked on, bemused. Gabe was laughing at Sam’s attempts to remove himself from the hunched over position and Jo was egging Charlie on.

Meanwhile, at the other table, Cas was talking quietly with Ellen and Bobby while Andrea and Benny were nowhere to be found. Dean huffed and walked into the kitchen, thinking that he should find them before pie was served. He found Benny backed against the kitchen counter, Andrea sucking a dark mark onto his neck.

“Really, guys?” Andrea jumped and stepped back guiltily, turning to face Dean. Benny grinned and reached out to pull her back against him, dropping his chin to her shoulder.

“Sorry, Dean,” Andrea said.

Benny laughed quietly and dropped a kiss behind her ear, “I’m not.”

“Ugh, guys, in my _kitchen_? I cook things in here, really good things.”

Benny hid his grin in Andrea’s shoulder and Dean rolled his eyes, “Okay, bring out the pies when you come out. And please, please, no nudity in my kitchen,” he turned on his heel and walked out, muttering loudly, “I even put you guys at the _adult_ table.” He grinned when he heard Benny snort out a laugh

**\--**

He joined Cas at the table and the other man gave him a blinding smile, flags of color high on his cheeks. Dean sat, dropping a kiss on Cas’s cheek as he did so. Cas ran a soft hand under Dean’s shirt in retaliation, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the bump of Dean’s spine. Dean shivered slightly, feeling goosebumps rise on his arm. Cas turned to continue a conversation with Ellen, warm hand still resting on Dean’s back.

Dean took the moment to watch Cas, taking in the strong line of his jaw, now dark with stubble, and the deep blue of his eyes. Cas fit so easily in Dean’s life. Dean didn’t want to examine the feeling that was pushing against his breastbone as he watched Cas talking with Ellen and Bobby, grinning at something that Bobby said. An insight niggled at the back of his mind, demanded attention. It scared him, this feeling that he was so comfortable with Cas. That the man seemed to fit and _work_ in Dean’s life.

He was broken from his reverie when he realized that Cas was looking back at him. Cas smiled and leaned forward, kissing Dean softly. Benny and Andrea announced pie and Dean sat back, returning Cas’s smile, the feeling that all was right in the world surging in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make a really, really good green bean casserole (I'm totally willing to brag about this). If you want to make an easy addition to your green bean casserole, I suggest switching out some (or all) of the milk for half and half. It's way worse for you, but it's worth it. If you want to go all in, like I do, you can also saute fresh mushrooms to add to the casserole, and cook fresh green beans. I'm vegetarian so the green bean casserole and the mashed potatoes are my absolute favorite come Thanksgiving.
> 
> Also, Halloween is my favorite holiday, hands down. So I wanted to get this chapter out before then.

**Author's Note:**

> So I've never written a fanfiction before. This idea was sparked off from something I saw on Tumblr and it just wouldn't leave me alone. I really have no idea what I'm doing but I'm going to try to update regularly. Also, I overuse commas. It's terrible. Sorry.


End file.
